ISLAMABAD: US President Donald Trump this week reiterated his offer to mediate and resolve the longstanding dispute between India and Pakistan on the disputed Kashmir territory, as tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors continue to simmer.
India and Pakistan pounded each other with artillery fire, missiles, drone strikes and fighter jets for four days before Trump announced a ceasefire between both sides on May 10. The US informed last month after the ceasefire announcement both India and Pakistan had agreed to meet at a neutral venue to address their differences, though New Delhi has so far publicly ruled out bilateral talks with Islamabad.
Trump said last month he used Washington’s trade ties with both countries to persuade them to back off from further military confrontation and agree to a ceasefire, taking the credit for preventing an all-out nuclear war. Speaking to reporters before signing a bill in the White House’s East Room on Thursday, the American president said Washington was “going to get those two getting together.”
“I told them, India and Pakistan — they have a longtime rivalry over Kashmir — I said, I can solve anything,” he told reporters. “I’ll be your arbitrator.”
