New Delhi: India has once again decided to bury the hatchet with the US and “move on” from the controversy created by President Donald Trump earlier this week when he claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought his mediation in the Kashmir dispute with Pakistan.
“It is time to move on…Our relationship with the US remains multifaceted. It stands on its own merit. We have broad and deep convergence on all aspects of this relationship,” Raveesh Kumar, spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said at a media briefing Thursday.
The MEA spokesperson’s remarks came three days after President Trump’s sudden claim that Modi had asked him to play the role of a mediator on Kashmir when the leaders met on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Osaka, Japan last month.
Trump’s remark was made during a joint press conference with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan who was on a visit to the Washington DC earlier this week.
Also read: Donald Trump is wrong 95% of times, his claims about Modi on Kashmir can’t be any different
Modi-Trump meetings this year
PM Modi and Trump will come face to face during the G-7 Summit scheduled to be held on 24-26 August in the seaside town of Biarritz in France.
Modi is expected to attend only the outreach sessions of the G-7 Summit since India is not part of the grouping. However, there are chances that he may have a bilateral dialogue with Trump on the sidelines but no confirmation has been received yet.
Both leaders will meet in September again, when the PM visits America to attend the annual UN General Assembly. Modi will also be holding a bilateral meeting with Trump at the time.
While Kumar was quick to issue a statement rejecting Trump’s 22 July comment, both the MEA and US Department of State had checked minute-by-minute details of the meeting which took place between both leaders in Osaka, official sources told ThePrint.
Many clarifications
It was only after a thorough checking of the records by both nations that External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar made a detailed statement in the Parliament about “no such request” being made by PM Modi.
Amidst massive protests by opposition parties, who demanded that the PM give a statement in the matter, Jaishankar had reiterated: “Any engagement with Pakistan will require an end to cross-border terrorism. Shimla and Lahore accords provide the basis for resolution of all issues bilaterally.”
Meanwhile, sources also said that India does not plan to continue “dragging the issue” because Jaishankar’s statement has laid it to rest.
The US State Department as well as a number of their legislators have issued clarifications to downplay Trump’s claim. Many Senators also publicly apologised to India’s Ambassador to the US Harsh Vardhan Shringla.
Sources also said that the government had no intention of issuing a demarche to the US Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster on this matter.
Also read: Trump is no fool & this is why he deliberately lied about Modi’s Kashmir request
West’s Love Affair with Pakistani Generals
Only three weeks back Britain feted Pakistani COAS General Bajawa with state honors and now this week, President Trump is sitting down with him along with his intelligence General and the hired Prime Minister Imran Khan in the Whitehouse to tell him that – “get me out of Afghanistan and I will restore all military and economic aid to you”. We do not know how the meeting concluded, simply by the mood of the participant, it would appear it went very well.
How did these Generals in Pakistan become so important?
After the British rule was ejected out of India in 1947, they left with displeasure and but not before building an everlasting relationship with newly created Pakistan. As opposed to building relationship with political leaders there, they focused their energies on military leaders. And so came the Cold War and the America threw in its lot behind military leaders in Pakistan. The Western Press which is mostly hostile to India, ignored the murder of democracy instead supported generals like Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan (although he ordered Bangladesh butchery in 1971) and others like Zia UL Haq and Perez Musharraf. Military assistance was part of this support.
With new weapons, Pakistan started four wars with India and lost them all. But sooner than later as an ally, Pakistan was armed again and again with free gift of weapons and was allowed to make nuclear weapons, although same status is not accorded to Iran or North Korea or Libya.
It was Pakistan who helped and supported the Taliban fight with America and resulted in the deaths of 6,000 Americans. It was Pakistan who hid Osama Bin Laden for ten years. However, all this is forgotten in the name of “- get me out of Afghan quagmire.”
Alternatively in Myanmar, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Syria, etc. Generals have been sanctioned. They cannot even travel to US on a private visit, or to UN on an official mission, let alone visiting the Whitehouse.
The foregoing does not speak well of US as well as Britain, who in fact is behind the scene determines the policy for US.
It is a bad call for democratically elected leaders of America and Britain to sit down with military leaders of a country who, in fact, wish not merely evil but the worst.
Cheers……
Some of the channels that are seen to follow the official line could also be advised to let up.