Trump is no stranger to
controversies. His controversial remarks on the eve of Pakistani President
Imran Khan’s visit to Washington has thrown a spanner into the Indo-US ties
which are sagging under the burden of abrasive US trade policies. Trump’s inarticulate
and inconsistent foreign policy is now taking a toll on the US relations with
friends and foes. In yet another glaring example of fomenting tensions in the
bilateral ties, addressing the Press
after his meeting with Khan, President Trump claimed, “I was with
Prime Minister Modi two weeks ago and we talked about this subject” Trump
said, “He actually said,’ would like to be a mediator or arbitrator” I
said, “where” he said, “Kashmir”. His false claims of Prime
Minister Modi asking his to mediate the Kashmir issue has now stoked biggest
controversy.
Anyone familiar with the South Asia
knows that India has now two opinions about Kashmir. Time and again Indian
leadership, bureaucrats and politicians ascertained that Kashmir issue will be
resolved bilaterally with Pakistan and will not brook any “third party involvement”.
Minutes after Trump’s remarks, MEA spokesperson tweeted, “We have seen
@POTUS's remarks to the press that he is ready to mediate, if requested by
India & Pakistan, on Kashmir issue. No such request has been made by PM
@narendramodi to US President”. He also added, “It has been India's
consistent position that all outstanding issues with Pakistan are discussed
only bilaterally. Any engagement with Pakistan would require an end to cross
border terrorism. The Shimla Agreement & the Lahore Declaration provide the
basis to resolve all issues between India & Pakistan bilaterally”
expressing India’s strong objection to his claims”.
Trump’s sham claims of Modi
requesting Trump’s mediation along the sidelines of G-20 Osaka summit are
outright lies as Ivanka, who accompanied his father to the summit stated that
four aspects-defence deals, Iran sanctions, trade tariffs and 5G were discussed
at during Indo-US bilateral.
With his reckless claims, Trump has
punctured the rubicon of trust and confidence painstakingly built by the
leadership of both countries over the past two decades. Kashmir has been
Pakistan’s jugular vein. Islamabad never missed a chance to rake up Kashmir
issue at various bilateral and multilateral forums to rile India. Nations,
cognisant of India’s stand on Kashmir have always stayed away this issue. But
Trump keen on placating Pakistan hasn’t hesitated to raise contentious Kashmir
issue. Modi’s audacious air strikes and tough posturing against Pakistan
bolstered his reputation as a strong leader and has been instrumental for his
spectacular re-election. Hence it is inconceivable for any leader in right
frame of mind to even believe that Modi would have even brought the Kashmir mediation
issue with Trump. On the other hand, Trump with established credentials as
pathological liar with a predilection to pursue his interests has clearly
played mischief.
After Trump’s white lies, State
Department South and Central Asian Division swung into action damage control
mode and tweeted, “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”.
Soon, Representative Eliot L Engel,
Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, spoke to India’s ambassador
to the United States Harshvardhan Shringla and reiterated that United States
supports a dialogue between India and Pakistan over the longstanding Kashmir
dispute. He affirmed that “the dialogue’s pace and scope can only be
determined by India and Pakistan” and contended that Pakistan must take
concrete and irreversible steps to dismantle the terror infrastructure for a meaningful
dialogue to begin. In the meanwhile, White House in its press statement on
meeting between Trump and Khan didn’t make reference to Kashmir mediation
issue. Expressing shock over Trump’s remarks, India launched protest with US
State Department. Trump’s statement has stirred a political storm in India and
Minister of External Affairs categorically reiterated government’s position in
the Parliament.
Trump who has announced his plans
for re-election has been scouting for a major foreign policy breakthrough.
Desperate to pull back troops from Afghanistan, Trump is leaving no stone
unturned to cultivate Pakistan to clinch a peaceful with Taliban. Trump
administration has been doling out favours to Pakistan. Ignoring pleas of
senators, US facilitated $6 billion IMF bail package, days before Khan’s visit
to Washington the US designated Baloch activists as terrorists. Contradicting
his own statement on January 1st 2018, when he tweeted about
Pakistan, “They have given us nothing but lies and deceit, thinking of our
leaders as fools….no more” to curtly defending Islamabad before talks as
saying, “Pakistan never lies” Trump made a massive U-turn. Lying through
his teeth, Trump rehyphenated India with Pakistan to placate Islamabad to bring
about reconciliation with the Afghan Taliban. Similarly, blatantly disregarding
sensitivities of Afghanistan, before the bilateral meeting Trump said, “I
have plans on Afghanistan that, if I wanted to win that war, Afghanistan would
be wiped off the face of the Earth. It
would be gone. It would be over in —
literally, in 10 days. And I don’t want
to do — I don’t want to go that route”. Peeved by Trump’s remarks
Afghanistan too lodged strong protest.
Trump who considers himself smarter
than intelligence chiefs have often put White House officials to shame with his
goof ups and nuggets of knowledge on South Asia. He believed that Bhutan and
Nepal are part of India and he was told during a briefing that they were
separate countries. His ignorance, stubbornness and above all his deal making
approach is now endangering America’s ties.
While Brad Sherman apologised
India, New Delhi is ruffled by Trump’s volte-face. In sharp contrast to Trump’s
Pakistan appeasement, America has removed India from Generalised System of Preference
(GSP), imposed 14.5% tariffs on Steel and aluminium exports, even after India
acceded to US sanctions in Iran has reduced imports to zero and finalising
defence deals worth more than $11 billion and routing oil imports from America.
By extending a warm welcome to Khan
chaperoned by military hierarchy, Trump has legitimised military dominated
Pakistan regime and elevated Khan’s political fortunes. By downplaying
Pakistan’s cross border terrorism and acknowledging temporary crackdown on
terror outfits, Trump gave Pakistan a free run. His hostile statements on
Kashmir gave a new lease for life to Pakistan trumpeters who are waiting to
blow their horn and flash a victory sign. But surely Trump’s remarks will force
India to charter a new course and adopt a new strategy towards his
administration.
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