President does not make anything up: Trump adviser on Kashmir mediation remarks

Donald Trump "does not make things up", a top presidential adviser said on Tuesday when asked about on the US President's stunning claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked him to mediate on Kashmir, reports NDTV.

The report says, President Trump's claim has been roundly rejected by India, which maintains that all such issues are bilateral and no third party intervention is needed.

It is "a very rude question," Donald Trump's Chief Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters at the White House when a journalist asked if the President "made up" the comments he attributed to PM Modi.

"The President doesn't make things up," Kudlow said.

President Trump's offer to "mediate" on Kashmir during a joint media briefing with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and his claim that PM Modi had suggested it has provoked a firestorm, with New Delhi immediately denying any such request from the Prime Minister.

Donald Trump, who is known to make inaccurate statements, claimed that PM Modi asked him to mediate on Kashmir when they met in Osaka, Japan on the side-lines of the G20 Summit last month.

"I was with Prime Minister Modi two weeks ago, and we talked about the subject. And he actually said, 'would you like to be a mediator, or arbitrator', and I said 'where?', and he said 'Kashmir', because this has been going on for many, many years," Trump told reporters on Monday.

The Indian Army has been fighting terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir operated by handlers in Pakistan, such as Masood Azhar and Hafiz Saeed, and has maintained that Pakistan must stop sheltering terrorists

"I think they would like to see it resolved. I think you would like to see it resolved and if I can help, I would love to be a mediator. It is impossible to believe that two incredible countries that are very, very smart and very smart leadership can't resolve it...but if you want me to mediate or arbitrate, I would be willing to do it," the US President said.

The State Department, in apparent damage control, said while Kashmir is a bilateral issue, "the Trump administration welcomes Pakistan and India sitting down and the United States stands ready to assist".

India has not engaged with Pakistan since an attack on the Air Force base at Pathankot in 2016 by Pakistan-based terrorists, maintaining that talks and terror cannot go together.

Responding to protests in parliament over Trump's claim, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said: "I would like to categorically assure the House that no such request has been made by the Prime Minister to the US President. I repeat, no such request was made by the Prime Minister to the US President."