Matrix Report
An opinion piece in the Indian daily Hindustan Times entitled US courtship of Pakistan amplifies India’s challenge suggests why a “seemingly harmless” visit, in the Indian perception, to the US by Pakistani PM Imran Khan has become a major irritant for New Delhi.
In an apparently “angry” piece, Brahma Chellaney writes:
“Meanwhile, Trump, by hosting Pakistan’s Imran Khan at the White House, has bestowed legitimacy on a figure derisively called “selected prime minister”, a reference to how the military generals engineered his ascent to power.”
Moreover, expressing India’s anger towards terror listing of the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), Chellaney writes:
“By handing Pakistan a major diplomatic victory, BLA’s listing balances India’s gain from the earlier US-aided UN designation of the Pakistan-based Masood Azhar as a terrorist. Similarly, as if to balance its $10-million bounty on the India-sought Hafiz Saeed, America last year announced $11 million in reward money for information on three of Pakistan’s most-wanted men linked to Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.”
Chellaney was not the only Indian commentator irked by PM Khan’s warm welcome in the White House. Seema Sirohi, while writing for The Economic Times, argued that “Pakistan played (President) Trump well”. Calling the question on Kashmir a ‘planted’ question and acknowledging PM Khan’s thorough preparation, Sirohi wrote:
“US President Donald Trump was always going to be the X factor in how Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Washington would go. He proved to be a big one. A (planted) question on the Kashmir dispute, a president not known for reading briefing books, and a well-prepared Khan ready to pounce — it went according to Pakistan’s plan. The Kashmir trap worked”.
Yesterday, during his press briefing with PM Khan, President Trump had caused an uproar in India after suggesting that the Indian PM had asked him to ‘mediate and arbitrate’ on the Kashmir issue. Soon after, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs scampered to issue a rebuttal stating that no such request was made on PM Modi’s behalf.
However, after a strong uproar and denial in India of President Trump’s Kashmir offer, a top Trump advisor has said that the US President “does not make things up”. Trump’s Chief Economic Advisor Larry Kudlow said that it was “very rude” to ask whether the US President “made up” PM Modi’s request for mediation on Kashmir.
“The President does not make anything up. That’s a very rude question in my opinion. I am going to stay out of that. It’s outside of my lane. It’s for Mr (National Security Advisor John) Bolton, Mr (Secretary of State Mike) Pompeo and President, so I am not going to comment on that. President does not make things up,” Kudlow said in response to a question.
Yesterday, during his meeting with PM Khan, when asked about his possible role in resolution of the Kashmir Conflict, President Trump had said:
So I was with — I was with Prime Minister Modi two weeks ago, and we talked about this subject. And he actually said, “Would you like to be a mediator or arbitrator?” I said, “Where?” He said, “Kashmir.” Because this has been going on for many, many years. I was surprised at how long; it’s been going on a long….. And I think they’d like to see it resolved. And I think you’d like to see it resolved. And if I can help, I would love to be a mediator. It shouldn’t be — I mean, it’s impossible to believe two incredible countries that are very, very smart, with very smart leadership, can’t solve a problem like that. But if you want me to mediate or arbitrate, I would be willing to do that. It should be resolved. So it — but he asked me the same, so I think there’s something. So maybe we’ll speak to him or I’ll speak to him, and we’ll see if we can do something because I’ve heard so much about Kashmir. Such a beautiful name. It’s supposed to be such a beautiful part of the world. But right now there’s just bombs all over the place. They say everywhere you go, you have bombs and it’s a terrible situation. Been going on for many years. If I can do anything to help that, let me know.
Many believe that this statement from the US President is nothing less than a ‘diplomatic coup’ by Pakistan where the Kashmir dispute was made an “international headline”, which further annoyed New Delhi.
