US urges Pakistan-India to hold direct talks

WASHINGTON: As Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to hold his first interaction with US President Donald Trump, Washington is urging both India and Pakistan to hold direct talks to reduce tensions.

While responding to queries regarding Modi’s upcoming meeting with Trump on June 26, a State Department spokesperson told The News that US believes in efficacy of direct talks between the South Asian nuclear-armed rivals.

“The United States continues to believe that India and Pakistan stand to benefit from practical cooperation. We encourage India and Pakistan to engage in direct dialogue aimed at reducing tensions,” the spokesperson said.

According to the White House, Modi will meet with US president on June 26, a first interaction between the two leaders after Trump assumed office in January. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the two leaders will discuss topics including economic growth, the fight against terrorism, expanding defence cooperation and growing US-India trade.

When asked whether the issue of Kashmir will also come under discussion during the talks, the State Department maintained that US position on Kashmir is unchanged. “Our policy on Kashmir has not changed. The pace, scope, and character of any discussions on Kashmir is for the two sides to determine, but we support any and all positive steps India and Pakistan can take to forge closer relations,” the spokesperson told The News.

The thorny issue of Kashmir is one of the main reasons of tension between the two countries and after assuming her office, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley had said that the Trump administration will play a ''proactive'' role in de-escalating tensions between India and Pakistan.

"It's absolutely right that this administration is concerned about the relationship between India and Pakistan and very much wants to see how we de-escalate any sort of conflict going forward," Haley told reporters earlier this year.

According to experts, the two leaders will also discuss India’s ties with Pakistan. “I imagine Pakistan will come up and perhaps the current tensions between the two countries will as well. Trump has spoken previously about his concern over the India-Pakistan dispute,” said Michael Kugelman, a South Asia expert at US think tank Woodrow Wilson International Center.

However, Kugelman think chances of Kashmir being discussed in the meeting were very slim. “I would be verysurprised if Kashmir came up at all,” he said.

He acknowledged that Chabahar port project and India’s good relations with Iran could become an irritant for US-India relations, given Trump’s hostile position toward Iran. “I don’t think this initial meeting will be the time and place for Trump to demand that India ease up on its relations with Iran, but there could be such requests in subsequent high-level meetings. That said, I don’t think India and particularly the Modi government will be compelled to heed such a request,” Kugeman said.

He expects Modi to bring up the H1B visa programme as well as the attacks on Indians in America during the conversation. “At the same time I imagine there will be ample discussion of terrorism and the rise of China, two issues which worry both the US and India in a big way and on which the two sides generally see eye-to-eye. On the whole, though, I imagine this meeting will be less focused on deal-making and deliverables and more so on simply getting to know each other. They’re meeting for the first time and will want to build chemistry.”