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Imran Khan is fantastic man; Trump again offers to mediate in Kashmir issue

Imran Khan is fantastic man; Trump again offers to mediate in Kashmir issue
August 2, 2019
WASHINGTON (92 News) – Terming Prime Minister Imran Khan as fantastic man, US President Donald Trump once again offered to mediate between Pakistan and India on the Kashmir issue. Briefing the journalists on Imran Khan’s visit to Washington, a senior State Department official reiterated the US offer to help India and Pakistan resolve the 70-year old dispute, if asked by both. “Obviously it’s in everyone’s interest to see an improvement in relations between India and Pakistan. And the [US] president’s offer was made in recognition of that fact,” the official said. He clarified that Trump was ready to assist if the two countries wanted him to. “It’s really up to Prime Minister Modi to accept the offer,” he said in response to a question about India’s not accepting his initial offer. “I think they are fantastic people – Khan and Modi – I mean, I would imagine they could get along very well, but if they wanted somebody to intervene, to help them and I spoke with Pakistan about that and I spoke frankly in India about it,” he said. “We recognise that Kashmir has been a bilateral issue but there are opportunities as Pakistan takes steps that build confidence in its own efforts to counter terrorism [and] ultimately towards a constructive dialogue. We stand ready to assist if asked by the parties to do so,” he added. US president initially offer to mediate Kashmir dispute during a recent meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan in Washington. Pakistan welcomed the offer but India has rejected it. India’s external affairs ministry also denied that he ever made the offer. Kashmir is one of the issues that divided Pakistan and India over the past 70 plus years. Pakistan recently called on its neighbour to engage in dialogue for a peaceful resolution to the issue but so far India has rebuffed the offers.