President Donald Trump “does not make up things”, said top White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow when asked about his claim that Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi had requested him to “mediate” on the Kashmir issue while India denied the claim.
Kudlow categorically denied the claim that US President Trump “made up” Modi’s request to mediate between Pakistan and Indian on the decades-long Kashmir dispute. It is “a very rude question,” he told reporters at the White House in response to a journalist who had asked about the authenticity of the US president’s statement.
He declined to comment further, stating that it was a question better suited for Secretary of State Mike Pompeo or national security adviser John Bolton. “I am going to stay out of that. It’s outside of my lane. It’s for Mr Bolton, Mr Pompeo and the President, so I am not going to comment on that. The President doesn’t make things up,” he said.
After welcoming Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan at the White House on Monday, the US president had offered to mediate between India and Pakistan on the decades-long Kashmir issue, adding that it was Modi who had asked him to do so when they had met during the G20 Summit in June.
India, however, had rejected that their prime minister had made any such request. Indian opposition leaders have demanded that Modi make a personal statement to parliament to confirm that there was no change in New Delhi’s policy of only direct talks with Islamabad.
