New Delhi: Congress MP Manish Tewari on Sunday emphasised the need to educate US President Donald Trump, hours after he offered to work with India and Pakistan to find a solution to the Kashmir issue.
While hailing the truce, which he claimed was agreed upon after long night of talks and mediation from the US, Trump said he would now work “to see if, after a ‘thousand years’, a solution can be arrived at concerning Kashmir”.
Tewari asserted that the dispute isn’t a “biblical 1000-year-old conflict”.
“Someone in the US establishment needs to seriously educate their President Donald Trump that Kashmir is not a biblical 1000-year-old conflict. It started on October 22, 1947 – 78 years ago, when Pakistan invaded the Independent State of Jammu & Kashmir, which subsequently was ceded to India in’ FULL’ by Maharaja Hari Singh on October 26, 1947, that includes areas illegally occupied by Pakistan till now. How difficult is it to grasp this simple fact?” he wrote on X.
Tilak Devasher, former member of the National Security Advisory Board, said Trump, even during his first term, offered his mediation but it was turned down by India. “…PM Modi said that we are a mature country, and we will resolve it, and we don’t need friends…,” he told ANI.
On the agreement reached between Pakistan and India, he added that the conditions are yet to be fixed. “… hence, there will be a discussion between DGMOs on May 12. We attacked Pakistan fiercely such that Pakistan’s airfields were damaged and hence it was desperate for a ceasefire…,” he added.
On Saturday, Trump announced the agreement via social media, crediting American diplomatic intervention for brokering what he called a “full and immediate ceasefire”.
India, however, omitted any reference to the US while confirming the ceasefire agreement. Pakistan, on the other hand, was quick to endorse the announcement, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanking Trump for his “leadership and proactive role”. It has also welcomed Trump’s offer to mediate on the Kashmir issue, which Islamabad described as a longstanding dispute with serious implications for peace and security in South Asia and beyond.