No Talks with Pakistan on Kashmir, US “Offer” of Mediation Not Acceptable: Sources

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, May 11: Even as the Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked the US president Donald Trump for offering to “mediate” between India and Pakistan over the Kashmir issue, India unequivocally told Pakistan that there would be no discussion on any other issue including Kashmir following the ceasefire to de-escalate tension on Saturday evening.

Official sources said on Sunday that Pakistan should see uncertainty as the new normal and there would be no discussion with it on Kashmir. About Mr Trump’s offer to “work with” India and Pakistan towards a solution on Kashmir, the sources said there was no change in New Delhi’s stance that Kashmir is and would always be a bilateral issue between the two countries and would not agree on interference by any third country.

Four days of hostilities, during which India carried out precision strikes on terrorist infrastructure and airbases in Pakistan and Islamabad attacked civilian and military sites with drones and missiles, culminated in a ceasefire on Saturday. In a surprising move, the ceasefire was announced by Mr Trump on Saturday evening and then confirmed by India and Pakistan. New Delhi said the Pakistan Director General of Military Operations had called up his Indian counterpart and a ceasefire was agreed upon, which came into effect at 5pm on Saturday.

On Sunday, Mr Trump took to his social media platform Truth Social again and said he would work with both countries to see if “a solution can be arrived at concerning Kashmir.” “I am very proud of the strong and unwaveringly powerful leadership of India and Pakistan for having the strength, wisdom, and fortitude to fully know and understand that it was time to stop the current aggression that could have led to the death and destruction of so many, and so much. Millions of good and innocent people could have died! Your legacy is greatly enhanced by your brave actions. I am proud that the USA was able to help you arrive at this historic and heroic decision,” the US president wrote.

“While not even discussed, I am going to increase trade, substantially, with both of these great Nations. Additionally, I will work with you both to see if, after a ‘thousand years,’ a solution can be arrived at concerning Kashmir. God Bless the leadership of India and Pakistan on a job well done!!!” Mr Trump added.

Pakistan quickly welcomed Mr Trump’s “offer” to mediate on the Kashmir issue which it described as a “longstanding dispute with serious implications for peace and security in South Asia and beyond.” Appreciating what it described as the “constructive role played by the US in the ceasefire talks,” the Pakistan government in a statement said, “We also appreciate President Trump’s expressed willingness to support efforts aimed at the resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute – a longstanding issue that has serious implications for peace and security in South Asia and beyond.”

Islamabad further stressed that the government “reaffirms that any just and lasting settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute must be in accordance with the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions and must ensure the realisation of the fundamental rights of the Kashmiri people, including their inalienable right to self-determination.”

India has stressed that the initial escalation came from the Pakistani side with the April 22 attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, in which 26 people were killed. The sources said it was apparent after the attack that the nation has had enough and India’s response should make it clear that uncertainty is the new normal for Pakistan.

“The attack on Bahawalpur (the headquarters of the Masood Azhar-led terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed) is comeuppance for the ISI. No matter where you are, we will hit you,” the sources warned, adding that India had gone for the “head of the snake” and not for soldiers.

In the continued suspension of the Indus Waters treaty, the sources said Pakistan could not expect to carry out terrorism and expect cooperation in the areas it wants. “This is a new normal, there will be no business as usual,” they said.