US Congressman calls Trump’s Kashmir statement 'amateurish, embarrassing'

New Delhi, July 23: Hours after India denied US President Donald Trump's claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked him to mediate in resolving the Kashmir issue with Pakistan, US Congressman Brad Sherman on Tuesday apologised to India's US envoy and termed Trump's statement "amateurish, delusional and embarrassing".

Taking to Twitter, Brad Sherman, US Congressman tweets said,''Everyone who knows anything about foreign policy in South Asia knows that India consistently opposes third-party mediation in Kashmir.''

"I just apologized to Indian Ambassador Harsh Shringla for Trump's amateurish and embarrassing mistake," he also tweeted.

For the past 70 years, India has consistently resisted any third-party mediation proposal, and for over a decade now, the US has been reiterating that Kashmir is a bilateral issue.

As Trump met Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan at the White House on Monday, he offered to be the "mediator" on the Kashmir issue and even said he has received a request to do so from Modi during a recent meeting with him.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said no such request has been made by Modi to the US president.

"We have seen President Trump's remarks to the press that he is ready to mediate, if requested by India and Pakistan, on the Kashmir issue. No such request has been made by Prime Minister to the US President," he said.

Trump claimed that Modi had asked him to mediate on the Kashmir issue when they met in Osaka, Japan on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit last month.

The Democratic-controlled House Foreign Affairs Committee also issued a Fact Check. "The Indians confirm they never asked Trump to mediate on Kashmir," the powerful Congressional committee tweeted.