Jaishankar on Trump’s Kashmir remarks: No such request was made by PM to US President

India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has categorically denied US President Donald Trump’s claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought the US president’s help in resolving the Kashmir dispute with Pakistan. “No such request was made by the Prime Minister to the U.S. President, I would like to reiterate that India’s position is that all issues with Pakistan will be discussed only bilaterally and no third party will be involved in mediation. Any engagement with Pakistan would require an end to cross-border terrorism ” Mr. Jaishankar told Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India’s parliament, on July 23. With Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan sitting next to him at the White House, Mr Trump ignited a controversy by claiming that Mr Modi had asked him to be a mediator in resolving the Kashmir issue.  “I was with Prime Minister Modi two weeks ago and we talked about this subject and he actually said ‘Would you like to be a mediator or arbitrator’, I said ‘Where’, He said ‘Kashmir’. Because this has been going on for many, many years,” Mr. Trump had said on July 22. New Delhi repudiated Mr Trump’s remarks.  “We have seen [Mr. Trump’s] remarks to the press that he is ready to mediate, if requested by India & Pakistan, on Kashmir issue. No such request has been made by PM Narendra Modi to US President,” Mr Raveesh Kumar, the spokesperson of the external affairs ministry, said.