Washington, July 23:An influential Democratic Congressman on Tuesday apologised to India’s US envoy for President Donald Trump’s “embarrassing” remarks on Kashmir, while several others came out in support of New Delhi’s established stand against any third-party role on the issue.
“I just apologised to Indian Ambassador Harsh Shringla for Trump’s amateurish and embarrassing mistake,” Congressman Brad Sherman tweeted hours after Trump’s stunning claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had sought his mediation or arbitration efforts to resolve the Kashmir issue.
India quickly rejected his claims.
For the past 70 years, India has consistently resisted any third-party mediation proposal, and for over a decade now, the US has been reiterating that Kashmir is a bilateral issue.
“Everyone who knows anything about foreign policy in South Asia knows that India consistently opposes third-party mediation on Kashmir. Everyone knows PM Modi would never suggest such a thing,” tweeted Sherman, who has been closely following the development in South Asia for past few decades.
“Trump’s statement is amateurish and delusional. And embarrassing,” said Sherman who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee on Asia, the Pacific and Non-Proliferation.
Later in the evening, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Alice Wells in a tweet said Kashmir is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan. “While Kashmir is a bilateral issue for both parties to discuss, the Trump administration welcomes Pakistan and India sitting down and the United States stands ready to assist,” she tweeted.
Congressman Eliot L Engel, the Chairman of the powerful House Committee on Foreign Affairs, spoke with Shringla after Trump’s remarks.
“Engel reiterated his support for the longstanding US position on the Kashmir dispute, saying he supported dialogue between India and Pakistan, but reaffirmed that the dialogue;s pace and scope can only be determined by India and Pakistan,” said a statement issued by the House Foreign Affairs Committee. PTI
