New Delhi, September 24: With Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan sitting beside him, US President Donald Trump praised PM Narendra Modi and the gala event of ‘Howdy, Modi’ that he addressed along with the PM.
Addressing the media after meeting Imran Khan, Trump praised the ‘Howdy, Modi’ mega rally in presence of Khan and said PM Modi made “very aggressive statements” at the Houston event and the huge crowd of Indian-Americans received them well.
“It was very well received within the room,” Trump said, referring to the gathering of 50,000 people at the NRG Stadium in Houston.
Hours after addressing the joint rally with PM Modi in Houston, Trump met Imran Khan on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York.
Talking of mediating to solve the Kashmir dispute, Trump has once again said that if both India and Pakistan are willing, he would be ready to help.
Trump said he was ready to mediate between Pakistan and India on the Kashmir issue if both sides agree and described himself as “an extremely good arbitrator”.
While Trump has time and again offered to mediate in the Kashmir matter, India has maintained that Kashmir was a bilateral matter between India and Pakistan with no scope for third party mediation.
However, Imran Khan once again appealed to Trump seeking help in Pakistan’s troubles with India, Afghanistan and Iran.
To this, Trump cracked a joke and said, “He lives in a very friendly neighbourhood.”
“The most powerful country in the world has a responsibility,” Khan said alongside Trump, warning that the “crisis (in Kashmir) is going to get much bigger.”
“I have very good relationship with Prime Minister Modi. I have very good relationship with Prime Minister Khan…I would be an extremely good arbitrator. I have never failed as an arbitrator,” Trump told reporters, avoiding to directly answer a question on Kashmir.
With Trump by his side at the ‘Howdy, Modi’ event, Modi hit out at Pakistan for its support to terrorism and said India’s decision to nullify Article 370 has caused trouble to those who cannot handle their country as he called for a “decisive battle” against terrorism.