Trump wants to mediate in Kashmir, says Modi wanted

US President Donald Trump today jumped into Kashmir issueoffering to mediate and claimed that both Pakistan and Indian Prime Ministershad requested him triggering a diplomatic storm./

Pakistan quickly agreed to it but India firmly denied thatPrime Minister Narendra Modi ever made it any such request to the US President.

But Donald Trump's press briefing following the meeting withPakistani Prime Minister baffled Ministry of External Affairs.

Video of Trump claiming that Modi asked him to mediate the Kashmir issue two weeks ago. This won't end well pic.twitter.com/ISOkPnwybT

— St_Hill (@St_Hill) July 22, 2019

"I was with Prime Minister Modi two weeks ago and wetalked about this subject and he actually said 'Would you like to be a mediatoror arbitrator', I said 'Where', He said 'Kashmir'. Because this has been goingon for many, many years… I think they would like to see it resolved and you(Imran Khan) would like to see it resolved. If I can help, I would love to be amediator," President Trump said at the joint press briefing with ImranKhan. 

The "prayers of over a billion people will be with youif you can mediate and resolve the situation," Imran Khan responded.

But MEA quickly rebutted it. In a series of tweets, theforeign ministry said "no such request has been made" by the PrimeMinister. Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar posted:

…that all outstanding issues with Pakistan are discussed only bilaterally. Any engagement with Pakistan would require an end to cross border terrorism. The Shimla Agreement & the Lahore Declaration provide the basis to resolve all issues between India & Pakistan bilaterally.2/2

— Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) July 22, 2019

Hours after Trump's remark, the US State Department onMonday said that the matter is a bilateral issue concerning Islamabad and NewDelhi, however, Washington is "ready to assist".

"While Kashmir is a bilateral issue for both parties todiscuss, the Trump administration welcomes Pakistan and India sitting down andthe United States stands ready to assist," a State Department spokespersontold PTI in response to a question if Trump's remarks reflect a change in thecountry's policy on Kashmir.