Kashmir a bilateral issue, India tells US after Trump offers help

India on Wednesday reiterated its stand on Kashmir following the remarks by US President Donald Trump where he offered to "help" resolve the issue on Tuesday on the sidelines of World Economic Forum being held in Davos.

"Kashmir a bilateral issue and will have to be solved bilaterally," MEA sources told India Today TV.

Adding further, the source spelled out the "talks and terror cannot go together" policy of Modi administration. "For any conversation to take place, Pakistan will have to shun terror first," said the MEA source.

At an interaction with the press on Tuesday ahead of the meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, United States President Donald Trump repeated his mediation offer once again.

"We will discuss the situation in Kashmir. We can meditate on the issue. We are working with Pakistan on some borders and we were talking about Kashmir in relation to what is going on between Pakistan and India. If we can help, we certainly will be helping. We have been watching that and following it very very closely," he said.

The meeting was the third one-on-one meeting between the two leaders in less than one year.

The meeting was attended by delegations from both sides as regional security matters, the Afghan peace process, the US-Iran conflict and the situation in Jammu and Kashmir were discussed.

Prime Minister Imran Khan also raised the issue of Kashmir, highlighting the tense situation in the state of Jammu and Kashmir since August 5, reiterating his demand to Donald Trump and the international community to intervene.

"Of course India, it is a big issue for us and Pakistan as a sovereign nation. And we always hope that the US would play its part in solving it. Because no other country can," he said.

Pakistan's significance for the US has increased with the increase in tensions between Washington and Tehran. Pakistan becomes a very important strategic partner and that is not lost on the military establishment in Rawalpindi.

But, the remarks made by US President month just a month ahead of his India visit, has not gone down well with New Delhi. Trump has used various forms of the word "meditation", "arbitration", "intervention" at least seven times in the past.

The first offer was in July 2019, when Imran Khan was visiting Washington DC.

"If I can help, I would love to be a mediator," Trump had said, in response to Khan's appeal to use his good offices.

He repeated the same on August 1 when confronted by journalists after a strong reaction from India.

"If they wanted somebody to intervene or to help them," he said.

The third mention was on August 26, 2019, after his meeting with Prime Minister Modi at the G7 summit in Biarritz, France where he took a step back and said, "We spoke last night about Kashmir... And the Prime Minister (Modi) really feels he has it under control. I know they speak with Pakistan, and I'm sure that they will be able to do something that will be very good. We spoke about it last night at great length."

On August 29 he said, "I think we are helping the situation but there are tremendous problems between those two countries... and I will do the best I can to meditate or do something."

On September 9 when asked he said, "I'm willing to help them... I get along well with both countries very well. I'm willing to help if they want."

On September 23, 2019, on the sidelines of the UNGA, he spoke to reporters with Imran Khan sitting beside him when he said, "I am ready, willing and able... It's a complex issue and it's been going on for a long time. But if they are both willing then I'm ready to do it."

He repeated his offer two days later at a news conference on September 25 in New York, "I offered, whether it's arbitration or mediation, or whatever it has to be, I'll do whatever I can,"

Despite the fact that the State Department has repeatedly been mentioning that Kashmir is a bilateral issue to be resolved between India and Pakistan, Trump has continued to mention the niggling issue much to the consternation of New Delhi.