Opinion US backtracks on mediation claims in Kashmir: Send the message

US President Donald Trump is not known to be circumspect. In 2019, during his first term, he claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked him to mediate between India and Pakistan on Kashmir. Then, Washington backtracked and said the US would step in only if asked to do so by both countries. A similar script played out after the agreement between India and Pakistan to stop military action last week. First, Trump announced the ceasefire on his social media handles even before Indian and Pakistani authorities could do so. Second, he had used “trade”, he suggested, as a way to pressure Delhi and Islamabad. Third, the claim that the US “mediated” an end to the conflict. On Wednesday morning, the US State Department all but walked back on the theory that Washington was looking to play a part in the Kashmir issue. “We also welcome the ceasefire between India and Pakistan… We urge both sides to maintain direct communication to preserve regional stability,” its spokesperson said.

Earlier, Delhi had already put paid to any suggestion that the Kashmir issue was being internationalised. It provided a detailed timeline that showed it was Pakistan that first approached it to end the cycle of escalation. India reiterated that it would not give in to “nuclear blackmail” and the only issues to be discussed bilaterally were cross-border terror and the illegal occupation in PoK. That said, it is also important to understand that “internationalising” the Kashmir issue is easier said than done. For the better part of 75 years — especially in the last three decades, as India outpaced Pakistan economically and de-hyphenated itself diplomatically — Delhi has thwarted Islamabad’s attempts to make Kashmir a global talking point. Today, India’s national power is far greater, as it carefully navigates the Trump era.

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Less than five months into his second term, Trump has thrown the global order into flux. He has reversed the US position on the Ukraine conflict, imposed and reduced tariffs, lifted sanctions on Syria and even claimed that the US and Iran are close to a nuclear deal. India has done better than most in negotiating the challenges thrown up by this uncertainty, ensuring that its relationship with the US continues to deepen and widen. As the hostilities with Pakistan ebb, Delhi must continue to wait and watch. It need not overreact to Trump’s claims but it must keep underlining its message to him.