NEW YORK: US President Donald Trump on Monday renewed his offer to mediate between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir dispute and declared, ahead of a meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan, “I trust Pakistan”.

Separately, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that Prime Minister Khan may soon have another meeting with President Trump and “we may have a good news for you next time”. Diplomatic sources say the second meeting may either take place in New York or the PM may go to Washington for it.

The mediation offer — Mr Trump’s third — came barely 24 hours after he shared the stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a public rally in Houston where he said he heard “very aggressive views” on Kashmir and Pakistan.

Before the two leaders went into the meeting room at a New York hotel, President Trump said if both Indian and Pakistani prime ministers want him to mediate an agreement between them on Kashmir, he was “ready, willing and able”.

Says he trusts Pakistan, renews mediation offer, calls for rise in bilateral trade

“I trust Pakistan... Want to see everyone treated well in Kashmir... I have very good relations with Prime Minister Modi. I have a very good relationship with Prime Minister Khan. If they both say, ‘we have a point to iron out’, I will be ready to do it,” he told reporters with Mr Khan at his side. “I think I’d be an extremely good arbitrator.”

After the Trump-Khan meeting, the White House also issued a brief statement, saying: “The two leaders discussed … ways to de-escalate tension between Pakistan and India, including combating terrorism, and the importance of Indo-Pakistani dialogue to resolve disputes between them.”

The two leaders also “discussed opportunities to deepen mutually beneficial energy cooperation and trade ties,” it added.

At the news briefing, Mr Trump also lauded Prime Minister Khan’s political wisdom and leadership role for regional peace and development.

President Trump first expressed his desire to mediate the Kashmir dispute at a White House meeting with Prime Minister Khan in July, but India rejected his offer, insisting that New Delhi can only hold bilateral talks with Islamabad.

Asked at Monday’s briefing if he agreed with India’s claim that Pakistan was a base for terrorists, President Trump said, “I have been pointing much more to Iran”.

President Trump said that the Indian prime minister’s remarks on Pakistan at Sunday’s rally were “very aggressive”, but those were “well received” by the 50,000-strong Indian-Americans present there.

Prime Minister Khan, while responding to a question, told President Trump he felt that whatever was happening in held Kashmir was “the beginning of a crisis”.

“President Trump heads the most powerful country in the world. And the most powerful country in the world has a responsibility,” he said. “I honestly feel that this crisis could become much bigger. We look to the US to put out flames in the world.”

President Trump said the fact that he decided to have a one-on-one meeting with the Pakistani leader showed the importance he gave to Pakistan.

“Many countries wanted to meet with me, and we were unable to meet with them,” he said. “I will tell you this: You have a great leader. He’s a good man, a nice man. Happens to be a great athlete.”

He hoped that India and Pakistan would come together and resolve the issues that had strained their relations.

This was the second meeting between the two leaders, but President Trump has also held telephone talks with both Indian and Pakistanis leaders since Aug 5, when India unilaterally annexed the occupied valley.

“Stability in Afghanistan means stability in Pakistan,” Mr Khan while responding to a question on Afghanistan.

Mr Trump said it was “ridiculous” that the United States had been fighting there for 19 years, but he did not respond when asked could peace talks with the Taliban restart. “We’ll see,” he said.

Nobel Prize

When told that he could get a Nobel prize if he helped resolve the Kashmir dispute, Mr Trump said: “I would get a Nobel prize for a lot of things, if they give it out fairly, which they don’t.”

Mr Trump said he did not know why one of the world’s most prestigious accolades was awarded to his predecessor in the White House Barack Obama in 2009.

“They gave one to Obama immediately upon his ascent to the presidency and he had no idea why he got it. You know what? That was the only thing I agreed with him on,” Mr Trump said.

He said that previous US presidents had treated Pakistan unfairly, but he was not going to do so. He also emphasised the need to “double, triple and even quadruple” bilateral trade between the United States and Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2019