(Video) Rajya Sabha TV (RSTV) The Big Picture: Trump, Kashmir & India’s Stand

Topic: Trump, Kashmir & India’s Stand

Guest:

Prabhu Dayal, (Former Ambassador)
Prof. Swaran Singh, (Chairperson, Centre for International Politics, JNU)
Harsh V. Pant, (Head, Strategic Studies, Observer Research Foundation)

Topic Description:

US President Donald Trump said on January 21 that he was "watching and closely following" the developments between India and Pakistan on Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). Trump, who had met Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, described him as "a very good friend". A White House statement quoted Trump as saying: “We are working together on some borders, and we are talking about Kashmir and the relation to what is going on with Pakistan and India. And if we can help, we certainly will be helping." The US president sparked a controversy in 2019 when he claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked him to mediate on the Kashmir issue when they met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Japan's Osaka. Trump made the statement while meeting Khan at the White House. This claim was rejected by the Indian government. India has maintained that the Kashmir issue can only be discussed bilaterally and is not open to a third-party intervention.