A sense of unease has gripped the Indian policy establishment in the North Block, especially after Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan made his state visit to the United States. During the bilateral talks in the White House, the quintessentially unpredictable President Donald Trump – who has a habit of keeping the world guessing and keeping them on the edge of their seats – certainly ruffled a large number of feathers in North and South Block here in New Delhi.
What Happened?
US President Donald Trump said that during the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan which happened during June 28-29, 2019, the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi approached him to “act as a mediator or act as an arbitrator in the J&K dispute” which has been lingering for the last seven decades.
Why Is It A Cause Of Worry For India?
Historically, from the first Indo-Pak war of 1947, when the United Nations had sponsored a United Nations Commission for Jammu and Kashmir (UNCJK) which helped in brokering the ceasefire between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the war, India has strictly maintained no ‘third party mediation’ in the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
For a country which has maintained a strictly bilateral stance on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, it is naturally difficult to accept any third party mediation and especially on such a sensitive issue.
Why Is It A Reason For Pakistan To Cheer?
Pakistan, which has been engaged in dispute with India over Kashmir for the last seven decades, can benefit from the internationalization of the matter. Validation from a person who is running the most powerful country in the world can only work in their favour, especially when Donald Trump has in the past called Pakistan a “terrorist haven” and said “they have taken billions and billions of dollars from us and gave us nothing in return.”
What Lies Ahead?
As External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar stated “I categorically assure the house that PM Modi has made no such request,” the situation will continue to linger for a while. But the main issue that lies ahead is the recent cancellation of the Amarnath Yatra over security concerns – certainly a cause for concern.
But the larger question is this- as the United States cannot solve the Palestine-Israel conflict, with its Middle East peace plan falling flat on one hand and the United States struggling to get out of Afghanistan on the other, shouldn’t they be more concerned about solving these disputes instead of poking its nose in Jammu and Kashmir?