PM should ‘vehemently’ reject Trump’s statement on Kashmir: Congress
Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee Tuesday expressed concern over US President Donald Trump’s claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had sought his mediation in the Kashmir issue.
JKPCC chief spokesperson Ravinder Sharma asked Modi to vehemently reject the statements immediately.
Reacting strongly, Sharma called Trump’s statements “totally unacceptable” in view of the Simla Agreement.
Speaking to reporters here, Sharma said his party’s state unit expresses great concern over third-party mediation on the Kashmir issue. He said the serious thing was that the US president had named Modi for seeking mediation.
“This is very unfortunate that the US has tried to meddle in bilateral issues of India and Pakistan. More unfortunate is that even after 24 hours, the prime minister has not come out in the open, vehemently rejecting the utterances of Trump,” he said.
Sharma asked why had the prime minister not briefed the Parliament over the issue and addressed the nation.
“The nation can’t tolerate dilution of India’s consistent stand on Kashmir, reiterated in the ‘Simla Agreement’ and Parliament resolution of 1994”, he said.
The JKPCC said the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi got a diplomatic victory in Shimla, after dividing Pakistan in the 1971 war.
Pakistan was bound forever to resolve all outstanding issues bilaterally by signing the ‘Simla Agreement’, he said.
During the 1971 war, the US had threatened to send its seventh fleet for Pakistan’s aid but Gandhi did not succumb to pressure and partitioned Pakistan, Sharma said.
“Again, during the Pokhran Nuclear test under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the US was very uncomfortable but India rejected all such pressure and went ahead,” he added.
He asked why had the prime minister not responded to Trump’s statement when such a “dangerous” statement was made.
“The entire nation is behind Prime Minister Modi to reject such attempts of the US to internationalise the Kashmir issue,” he said. (PTI)
Press Trust of India
