Trump mandates Imran to mediate between US, Iran

NEW YORK: Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday said US President Donald Trump had mandated Prime Minister Imran Khan to mediate between the United States and Iran.

He was speaking to reporters here about the meeting between the two leaders on the sidelines of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly. Qureshi said the prime minister would discuss the issue with the Iranian leadership to find a way out.

More: Qureshi discusses security matters with Iranian FM

The foreign minister said the prime minister has made it clear to the US president that the region could not afford any war, as any imprudent action would draw drastic consequences. During the Saudi visit too, the prime minister had suggested an amicable solution to the US-Iran standoff. To a question, the foreign minister said President Trump had expressed trust in the Prime Minister Imran Khan’s leadership. He said PM Khan had explained Pakistan’s clear, categorical and firm stance on Kashmir, Afghanistan and Iran to President Trump. “The prime minister talked on three issues. There was no ambiguity in it. It had no flexibility,” he added.

Related: PM Imran meets Iranian President Hassan Rouhani

He said the prime minister told President Trump that a humanitarian crisis had developed in the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir where eight million people were living under siege with their basic human rights usurped. He said President Trump was told that India would only listen to the United States so it should play its role. He said both the US and the UN Security Council will have to play their part if they wanted to avert bloodshed in the occupied territory. He said the prime minister also apprised the US leadership of Pakistan’s facilitative and constructive role in the Afghan peace process that was also acknowledged by Secretary Mike Pompeo.

The prime minister reiterated that there was no military solution to the Afghan issue and called for resumption of talks to move the peace process forward. He said during the meeting, President Trump expressed concern over the human rights violations in the IOK. Qureshi said the world must know that India was the biggest hurdle to the regional peace.“Even the Indian society is divided on their government’s actions in the Indian Occupied Kashmir, he added.