How Delhi Rehandled in Osaka to Refute Trump – Diplomatically

Less than 12 hours after Foreign Ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar denied US President Donald Trump's claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would have asked him to mediate for Kashmir Foreign Minister SJaishankar said Tuesday in Parliament. like to "categorically badure" that the Prime Minister has not made such a request.

While the Jaishankar declaration was made at about 11:00 am in Rajya Sabha, after the ministry had about 11 hours to check the records in Delhi and Washington, the MEA spokesperson's statement came after 40 to 45 minutes deliberations within the government on how to respond to the situation. Statement of the US President.

On Monday, at around 10:30 pm, the South Bloc first became aware of reports of Trump's statement – before his bilateral meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan – in which he said that Modi had asked him to play the role of arbitrator and mediator for Kashmir. "I was with Prime Minister Modi two weeks ago. We talked about this subject and he actually said you would like to be a mediator or an arbitrator? I said where? He said: Kashmir. Because this has been going on for so many years … and if I could help, I'd like to be a mediator, "Trump said Monday night.

Explained | Read Trump's offer in Kashmir

Senior South Block officials, who were monitoring the meeting between Khan and Trump, relayed Trump's remark to Jaishankar, who had returned from his meeting with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov to discuss preparations for Modi's September summit. and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

While the reports quoted Trump, officials were waiting for a video clip of his statement, while they were working on the phone. As soon as the video clip was released, the officials sent him to Jaishankar and the Prime Minister's office.

Sources said it was "perfectly clear" that Modi made no such suggestion during his meeting with Trump on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka on June 27.

Read | J & K parties welcome Donald Trump's offer to intervene on Kashmir

"In addition to the Prime Minister, there were at least eight Indian representatives and the Minister of External Affairs in the room. There was no confusion about what the Prime Minister said at the meeting, "said a source. Representatives present included National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary Vijay Keshav Gokhale.

The 40-minute Modi-Trump meeting was held at the Osaka International Exhibition Center, the summit venue. State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Gokhale told the media after the meeting that four issues had been discussed: Iran, 5G, trade and defense. Trump's daughter and councilor Ivanka Trump, who was part of the meeting, also published a video clip in which she explained the issues discussed.

"There was no reference to Kashmir in the discussions, nor in the Gokhale briefing or in the video of Ivanka," the source said.

In Osaka, there was another occasion where the two leaders sat side by side – at dinner. Indian diplomat Nilakshi Saha Sinha, director of Central and West Africa Division at MEA, who also plays the role of prime minister's interpreter in these circumstances, sat right behind Modi to facilitate the conversation with Trump and the Prime Minister Australian Scott Morrison on the other side.
According to some sources, Modi did not say anything about the search for a mediation on Kashmir. Sources said the two leaders had a "good conversation" during dinner, sometimes helped by the official interpretation for them.

Explained | Why President Trump eventually proposed mediation on the Kashmir issue

There were a few other occasions when the two men exchanged ideas during the G20 summit, including the Japan-US-India trilateral meeting (just before the Modi-Trump bilateral meeting) and sometimes in the leaders' room. and during group photographs.

According to the usual diplomatic practice, while the minutes of the bilateral meeting are prepared by the officials present, the conversation during the dinner is prepared by the interpreter-diplomat, and if the two leaders have a conversation without help by their side in the living room or walking together), they inform the officials of the conversation. In all these cases, the recordings of the discussions – called "RoDs", according to diplomatic jargon, are preserved.

While the Indians were certain that Modi had never spoken of Kashmir mediation, the only question they faced was how to refute Trump's statement. "Since the President of the United States invoked the name of the Prime Minister, we had to tackle the issue head-on. There was no ambiguity in this approach … but the key question was how, "the source said.

READ Delhi denies Trump's claim to Prime Minister Modi has asked him to negotiate Kashmir

A draft statement was prepared by officials and sent to Jaishankar, but the minister informed the prime minister. Senior officials, including Gokhale and Doval, spoke. Modi agreed with Jaishankar to refuse the request, sources said.

Thus, the drafting of the statement began around 11:15 pm, and the MEA spokesman tweeted it at 11:58 pm. During this period, the Indian side checked its records. Gourangalal Das, deputy secretary of MEA (North America), confirmed that there was no reason to believe that it could have been misinterpreted. But they wanted to be absolutely sure that there were no suggestions of this kind in American records.

So, during the night, while Delhi was sleeping, the Embbady of India in the United States, led by Ambbadador Harsh Vardhan Shringla, also worked on the phone with the United States Government . The minutes of the discussions at the US State Department and at the White House were also verified, and the United States confirmed that there was also no such reference in their reports.

In fact, Washington has slowly returned to Trump's statement. On Tuesday at 4:47, the highest official of the US State Department at the Office of South Asian and Central Asian Affairs (ACS), Acting Assistant Secretary, Alice G Wells – the equivalent of the Deputy Secretary (Americas) at MEA – tweeted: A bilateral issue to be addressed by both parties, the Trump Government welcomes that Pakistan and India are meeting and the United States United are ready to help. This clearly distanced the US State Department from Trump's statements.

Armed with a Washington reconfirmation, Jaishankar added in his statement to Parliament that he wanted to "categorically badure" the House that no request to that effect had been made by Modi to Trump. "I repeat, the Prime Minister has made no request to the President of the United States," he said.

This "categorical badurance" was born from cross-checking the recordings on both sides and Well's tweet. I would also like to reiterate that India has always maintained that all outstanding issues with Pakistan are only discussed bilaterally. I would also like to stress that any engagement with Pakistan would require an end to cross-border terrorism. Let me conclude by emphasizing that the Shimla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration form the basis of the bilateral resolution of all the problems between India and Pakistan. I hope, given my very specific and categorical responses, that there is no confusion in anyone's mind about it, "he said.

However, the Indian side will not aggravate the problem, because the White House has chosen to remain silent on the president's statement. They did not contradict India's rebuttal nor did they corroborate Trump's statement when reading it after the meeting, sources said.

According to sources, the White House and the US State Department have not contradicted the statement of the MEA and Jaishankar, the government is of the opinion that the statement of Modi on the controversy is not necessary. "If the Prime Minister makes a statement, disputes between the two countries will not be necessary," sources said.

According to sources, Trump has continuously lobbied Pakistan and Delhi would not want to compromise his relations because of his statement, giving Pakistan a victory over the issue.

In fact, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House, Eliot Engel, has spoken with the ambbadador of India, Shringla. Engel reiterated his support for the long-standing position of the United States on the dispute in Kashmir, saying that he supported the dialogue between India and Pakistan, but that the pace and scope of the dialogue can only be determined by India and Pakistan, "commented the commission.

US Congressman Brad Sherman, who is a prominent member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, tweeted, "I have just apologized to the Indian Ambbadador @HarshShringla for". Trump's amateur and embarrbading mistake. Anyone familiar with foreign policy in South Asia knows that India consistently opposes third-party mediation regarding #Kashmir. Everyone knows that Prime Minister Modi will never suggest such a thing. Trump's statement is amateurish and delirious. And embarrbading.