Donald Trump's offer on J&K mediation off the table, says India as Pakistan faces UN roadblock

New Delhi: India has said US President Donald Trump's offer to mediate between India and Pakistan on Kashmir is "not on the table", weeks after he gave the offer while sitting next to Pakistan PM Imran Khan in White House during the latter's US visit. Indian Envoy to the US, Harsh Shringla in an interview to a private US channel said, "President Trump has made it very clear that his offer to mediate on Jammu and Kashmir is dependent on both India and Pakistan accepting it. Since India has not accepted the offer of mediation, he has made it clear that this is not on the table anymore."

Adding that the United Nations (UN) also made it clear that the "issue has to be resolved bilaterally between India and Pakistan in keeping with the agreements, the two countries signed The Lahore and Shimla agreement. This is not an issue that needs to be settled with the third parties. That was something, President Trump clarified and made clear."

Meanwhile, at the UN, Pakistan is already facing a roadblock with the United Nation Security Council (UNSC) not taking up Islamabad's letter of August 6 at several meetings held last week.

Hoping that both countries "can work out a mutually beneficial solution bilaterally", Polish envoy Adam Burakowski said his country, "believes that the dispute can only be resolved by peaceful means. Like the whole European Union (EU), we are in favour of a dialogue between Pakistan and India to sort out differences." 

On Monday, Pakistani foreign minister SM Qureshi called his Polish counterpart during which Warsaw said New Delhi and Islamabad should resolve issues through dialogue. 

A Polish Foreign Ministry readout on the conversation said, Polish FM Jacek Czaputowicz "pointed out that the dispute between states can only be resolved through dialogue", while emphasizing that as the chairman of the UN Security Council, "Poland would be closely monitoring the developments in the region".

Last week, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had called on Polish FM. Pakistan itself has already conceded that it might be an uphill task at UNSC on Kashmir. Pakistan foreign minister said, "People in the Security Council aren’t standing with flowers, any of the P5 members can be a hurdle...There shouldn’t be any ambiguity on that, do not live in a fool's paradise".

Over the weekend Russia became the first member of the permanent five of the UNSC to fully support India's decision to remove the special status for Jammu and Kashmir and said it is New Delhi's internal matter taken "within the framework of the Constitution of the Republic of India". 

The US last week became the first country to react and said it has taken note of Indian govt's describing the developments "as strictly an internal matter" and said there has been no policy change by Washington.

New Delhi has tried to ally Chinese concerns as well, saying it will not impact the Line of Actual Control (LAC). EAM Jaishankar who was in Bejing on Monday told his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi that New Delhi's decision is its internal matter and the legislative measures are aimed at promoting better governance and socio-economic development.