If the news channels sidelined the tumultuous Karnataka Assembly circus, it was because of another juicy news that hogged the limelight. The hungry Indians wanted more, not satisfied with the low-key reception and the demeaning bus ride of Imran Khan the PM of Pak on his arrival at the US. The plan, however, did not go on per script, when the Pak PM lobbed a bouncer to the US President, first by singing paeans and then drawing the attention of Trump by seeking his intervention to end the Kashmir imbroglio.
President Trump is unlike any the US has ever had, holds no pretences and shoots too fast, unconcerned of the consequences. He doesn’t care much about niceties and protocols. Trump promptly replied that Indian PM Modi also had requested him to mediate on Kashmir. It led to a substantial diplomatic avalanche in India, which was shell shocked, reacting with alacrity that the Kashmir problem has been, is and will always be a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan. India has firmly refused to entertain attempts by China to mediate in the matter.
Trump quoted that Modi had spoken to him, during the G20 meeting at Osaka. The Ministry of External Affairs firmly denied any such remotely taking place. The external affairs minister, S. Jaishankar, clarified as such in the parliament. Meetings and discussions between world leaders are duly recorded, often word by word, and approved by their respective sides and no mention of Kashmir finds a place in the records, checked and confirmed now by both the governments. I can never believe that Modi while doing a photo-op with world leaders or while hugging the US President could have whispered seeking a mediation in Kashmir.
US members of Congress and the administration too have strongly disapproved the inconsiderate and sensitive utterance of the US President, reiterating that Kashmir is a bilateral matter between India and Pakistan.
Sadly, however, the opposition is not satisfied with Jaishankar’s clarification. They insist that PM Modi appear in person before the parliament and clarify that President Trump is Lying. The demand is outrageous, solely for the fact that it would only harm the interest of a personal bond and chemistry between Modi and Trump that may not augur well for India. I think Modi is just in declining to make any comment, and the statement of his cabinet colleague should be accepted, and further embarrassment avoided. That would be precisely how Pakistan would have wanted, pinning India in an awkward position. The fanaticism of the sized-down opposition is understandable, but in this case, it will not help India if Modi makes any statement against Trump’s statement.
Kashmir problem has been on for more than seven decades, inherited from the British and queered by the amateurish response by the earlier government. China has further complicated by grabbing a part of Aksai Chin and also building their OBOR through the POK. India, the soonest, has to have its say in absolute terms in reclaiming the whole of Kashmir, including the portion ceded to Pakistan.
An impatient Trump may not be the best negotiator in issues as complex.
Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix