On August 21, US President Donald Trump once again offered to mediate on the Kashmir issue. This despite the Modi government, and even his own state department, saying Kashmir is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan.Trump’s statement expressing his desire to mediate on Kashmir comes two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a 30-minute phone conversation with Trump informing him about incitement of “anti-India violence” in Kashmir by various political leaders, according to an MEA statement.Trump, for his part, “conveyed the importance of reducing tensions between India and Pakistan and maintaining peace in the region,” the US readout said. After calling Modi, Trump also called Prime Minister Imran Khan to convey the same message, and to tell him to dial back his anti-India rhetoric .Trump’s latest comment suggests efforts by the Indian side – including phone calls from PM Modi – have done little to dissuade the US president from offering his services as a mediator.And though the US state department insists US mediation is possible only if India and Pakistan agree to it, a senior US official did red flag India’s decision to keep hundreds of political leaders under indefinite detention.
