Kashmir issue to be resolved through Pak-India talks: Modi

HELD SRINAGAR: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday that Kashmir dispute would be solved by holding dialogue with Pakistan.

US President Donald Trump Monday said he had no need to help mediate between Pakistan and India over tensions in the Indian Held Kashmir (IHK) because Prime Minister Narendra Modi felt he had it "under control".

Earlier this month, Trump said he was ready to step in, but at a meeting with Modi at the G7 in France, Trump said, "The prime minister really feels he has it under control". Trump added he and Modi spoke about Kashmir "at great length" on Sunday.

He said India and Pakistan could handle their dispute over occupied Kashmir on their own, but he was there should they need him. "We spoke last night about Kashmir, prime minister really feels he has it under control. They speak with Pakistan and I'm sure that they will be able to do something that will be very good," the US president told reporters.

Sitting alongside Trump, Modi said all issues between New Delhi and Islamabad were "bilateral in nature". "All issues between India & Pakistan are bilateral in nature, that is why we don't bother any other country regarding them," Modi said. He said India and Pakistan were together before 1947 and that he was "confident that we can discuss our problems and solve them, together".

The Indian premier also said he had told Prime Minister Imran Khan that they should work together for the welfare of their two countries. New Delhi’s contentious decision has angered Pakistan, and Prime Minister Imran Khan Monday said he would continue fighting for the rights of Kashmiris. The Trump-Modi talks came as police said stone-throwing protesters in Kashmir killed a driver of what they thought was a military truck, amid a crippling security lockdown imposed just hours before the autonomy announcement.

New Delhi sent reinforcements to the estimated half-a-million troops already stationed in Kashmir, cut phone lines and the internet, placed severe restrictions on movement and arrested thousands, according to multiple sources.

The turning of the former Himalayan kingdom of seven million people into a fortress of barricades and barbed wire has not prevented protests and clashes with security forces taking place however.

In the latest demonstration on Sunday in Anantnag district, protestors hurled stones at a truck that they believed to be a military vehicle. The 42-year-old driver was struck on the head and died, police said.

The Press Trust of India news agency said two men had been arrested over the incident. India says no civilian has died from police action since August 5. But residents have said three people have been killed, including a young mother who choked after police fired tear-gas canisters into her home.

Multiple hospital sources have told AFP at least 100 people had been hurt during the lockdown, some with firearm injuries. Authorities say they have been easing restrictions gradually but a delegation led by key opposition figure Rahul Gandhi was turned away at Srinagar airport on Saturday after flying in from New Delhi to assess the situation.

Regional police chief Dilbagh Singh told AFP that Gandhi was turned back because in a situation "getting to normalcy" they wanted to avoid any "controversial statement". Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik Sunday defended the restrictions, echoing the government which says the curbs are meant to maintain peace in the disputed region.

Ahead of his latest remarks, Trump last Tuesday after phone calls with both Modi and Khan offered to mediate in what he called an "explosive" situation in Kashmir. "Kashmir is a very complicated place. You have Hindus and you have the Muslims and I wouldn´t say they get along so great," Trump told reporters at the White House. "I will do the best I can to mediate," he added.