US President Donald Trump’s remark on mediation in Kashmir has not gone down well with India. After the Ministry of External Affairs categorically denied the US President’s claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked him for mediation, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary said that “there is something fundamentally wrong”.

Taking to micro blogging site Twitter, Ram Madhav said thatthe statement by Trump “underscores the biggest problem” in the American“system”. According to Madhav, such statement should not come from the USPresident given the fact that there were experts of India and South Asiamatters in his administration.“POTUS’ statement on Kashmir underscores thebiggest problem in the US system today. With expert India and South Asia handslike Lisa Curtis in White House n State Dept if he makes such a statement thenthere is something fundamentally wrong,” tweeted the BJP general secretary.Notjust in India, the statement by Trump during the joint press meet with PakistanPrime Minister Imran Khan irked many in the US as well.A senior US Congressman,Eliot L Engel, reached out to India and met Indian Ambassador to US HarshVardhan Shringla. Engel, chairman of House Committee of Foreign Affairs, saidthat he supported “dialogue between India and Pakistan” on the issue ofKashmir. “I support dialogue between India and Pakistan on Kashmir dispute, butdialogue’s pace and scope can only be determined by India and Pakistan.”AnotherUS Congressman, Brad Sherman, apologised to the Indian Ambassador, termingTrump’s statement as “amateurish and embarrassing mistake”. Posting a tweet,Sherman said, “I just apologized to Indian Ambassador Harsh Vardhan Shringlafor Trump`s amateurish and embarrassing mistake,” he tweeted on Monday…Everyonewho knows anything about foreign policy in South Asia knows that Indiaconsistently opposes third-party mediation re Kashmir (sic). Everyone knows PMModi would never suggest such a thing. Trump`s statement is amateurish anddelusional. And embarrassing.”

The US State Department also went in a damage-control modefollowing Trump’s remark. A statement released by its spokesperson said that“Kashmir is a bilateral issue for both India and Pakistan to discuss”. Thespokesperson, however, added that “the United States stands ready to assist”.Ina joint press briefing with Imran Khan, the US President had earlier said, “Iwas with Prime Minister Modi two weeks ago and we talked about this subject andhe actually said ‘Would you like to be a mediator or arbitrator’, I said‘Where’, He said ‘Kashmir’. Because this has been going on for many, manyyears… I think they would like to see it resolved and you (Imran Khan) wouldlike to see it resolved. If I can help, I would love to be a mediator.”

As per the Shimla Agreement, both sides have agreed on‘mutual commitment to the peaceful resolution of all issues through directbilateral engagements’, which suggests that no third-party mediation should beentertained on issues like Kashmir.