Donald Trump offers to be ‘mediator or arbitrator’ for India-Pakistan talks

Donald Trump said he is open to mediating negotiations between India and Pakistan, two nuclear-capable countries that have a long-standing hostile relationship with each other.

“Well, I would love to see Pakistan and India get along, because that’s a very, very hot tinderbox … That would be a very great thing. I hope they can do it,” Trump told the Hindustan Times this weekend, before appearing at a Republican Hindu Coalition event Saturday evening in New Jersey.

In what the Hindustan Times says is an indirect reference to a recent Uri terrorist attack and a spike in hostility between India and Pakistan, Trump said, “Look at the recent problem that [India] had and other problems that you have had over the years.”

Trump said “if it was necessary” he would play a role in the negotiations between the two countries, whose many disputes include a disagreement over who has a right to preside over land in the Kashmir region.
“If we could get India and Pakistan getting along, I would be honored to do that. That would be a tremendous achievement … I think if they wanted me to. I would love to be the mediator or arbitrator,” Trump said.

At the GOP Hindu event Saturday, Trump said in his administration the U.S.-India relationship would be of the utmost importance.

“No relationship will be more important,” he said, adding that the two countries will be “best friends.”