imagined offer
28 OutlOOk 5 august 2019
by Pranay SharmaT
he stream of misinformation,
to put it mildly, befuddled the
world, and it started right from
January 2017, when Donald
Trump assumed office as presi-
dent of the United States. Since
then, he has shown an endless appe-
tite for creating controversy through
deceit and rude comments, mostly
through tweets directed both at lead-
ers he claims are ‘close friends’ and at
a long list of bêtes noire. The marvel is
how impervious he is to howls of deri-
sion and protest, of being cal led a ped-
dler of barefaced lies, a willing victim
of delusional urges. Those beady eyes
and upturned chin conc eal a stone
wall of the highest integrity.
His latest salvo from Washington early
this week targeted Prime Minister Nare
ndra Modi. Trump’s claim that Modi had
sought his mediation on the Kashmir
dispute with Pakistan sparked angry
deb ates, speculation and an adjourn
ment of Parliament’s proceedings, along
with a hurried and categorical rebuttal
from the Indian foreign minister.
The sharp reaction in India is under
standable. ‘Third party” mediation inv
olving Pakistan and Kashmir evokes a
long list of bad memories. On most such
initiatives in the past decades—many of
which continue to haunt political lead
ers—India had ended up hol ding the
‘wrong end of the diplomatic stick’, while
the gains were mostly extracted by its
obdurate western neighbour.
“We have suffered every time we
sought outside help to resolve issues
with Pakistan,” says former foreign
secretary Kanwal Sibal.
The furore in Parliament over
Trump’s claim and the alacrity with
which foreign minister S. Jaishankar
assured the agitated MPs that there had
been no shift in India’s stated position
and, likewise, not an iota of truth in
Trump’s statement, clearly indicates
the sensitivity of the issue.
The fact that the foreign ministry had
dug out the minutes and records of the
Osaka meeting between Trump and
Modi in which the ‘request’ was allegedly
made, showed that the government is
leaving no scope for speculation on not
only a ‘third party’ mediation but also on
expectations that India might return to
the talks table with Pakistan soon.An Invisible
Third Eye
Trump’s unsolicited, mediatory hand is easily
spurned. India has to frame its Pakistan policy in
the light of the Afghan talks and the FATF ruling.no help, please Modi and Trump
at the G20 summit in osaka