Up to India to deal with CAA issue, says Trump
DAY TWO Reiterates offer to mediate between India and Pakistan; criticises New Delhi’s tariff regime, highlighting US has to be ‘treated fairly’, but hopeful deal will happen
NEW DELHI: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday again offered to mediate to resolve differences between India and Pakistan and criticised New Delhi’s tariff regime, but also held out hope of a trade deal by the end of the year and expressed satisfaction with his visit.
Addressing the first standalone news conference in India by a visiting US president in recent history, Trump sidestepped questions on what the US could do to counter terrorism emanating from Pakistani soil, saying only that this was a problem that he believed Prime Minister Narendra Modi would take care of.
Trump acknowledged that religious freedom in India figured in his talks with Modi, but ducked a question on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), saying it was “up to India” to deal with the issue.
The president addressed Indian and US media as he wrapped up a busy trip that lasted less than 36 hours, and despite India’s consistent position that all matters with Pakistan will be handled bilaterally, Trump again waded into the issue of mediation when he was asked about the problem of terror from Pakistani soil.
Noting that he and Modi had “talked a lot about Pakistan”, he brought up his “very good relationship” with Prime Minister Imran Khan.
He added, “And I said I’ll help, I’ll do whatever I have to do, if I can do that, because my relationship with both gentlemen is so good.”
Trump further said, “Anything I can do to mediate, anything I can do to help, I would do. They are working on Kashmir. Kashmir has been a thorn in a lot of people’s sides for a long time. And there are two sides to every story.”
Trump said he and Modi had also discussed terrorism at great length and “I think we have some very good ideas”. But he added that he believed Modi would take care of the menace.
“He is very, very strongly against terrorism...prime Minister Modi is a very religious man...he is a very calm man but he is actually a very, very strong person, very tough, actually. I’ve seen him in action and he’s got that foremost in his mind – terrorism. He’ll take care of it,” he said.
He described Kashmir as a “big problem between Pakistan and India” and said he thought they would “work out their problem”.
Trump raised India’s tariff regime and said the US wants to be treated fairly and given reciprocal access to the Indian market.
“India is probably the highest tariff nation in the world...and I said we have to stop that, we have to stop it, at least, as it pertains to the US,” he said.
Just like China, which recently concluded the first phase of a trade deal with the US, New Delhi too will deal with Washington, he said. He again raised the issue of Indian tariffs on Harley-davidson motorcycles and said they were “unfair”.
“I want reciprocal, it has to be reciprocal…the US has to be treated fairly, and India understands that,” Trump said, adding the two sides also have to address the trade deficit, which at $24 billion against the US was still “too high”.
Ahead of his visit, negotiators from the two countries tried to narrow differences on tariffs, price controls on medical devices and greater access for US dairy and agricultural goods but were unable to reach common ground.
Trump said a deal was still possible: “I would say if the deal happens with India, it will toward the end of the year. And if it doesn’t happen, we will do something else that will be very satisfactory”.
Earlier in the day, Modi said in a media statement that India is committed to fair and balanced trade and Trump and he had agreed that the understanding reached by the commerce ministers of the two sides should be given a legal shape. “We have also agreed to initiate negotiations for a bigger deal,” Modi said.
Trump also refused to speak out publicly against the violence in New Delhi even as he flew into India. The violence involving pro- and anti-caa protestors has claimed at least 13 lives and injured more than 240 people. The US President said he did not discuss “individual attacks” .
However, he said that he and Modi talked about religious freedom. “And I will say the Prime Minister was incredible on what he told me. He wants people to have religious freedom, and very strongly. And he said in India, they have worked very hard to have great and open religious freedom.”
On the CAA, Trump said: “I don’t want to discuss that. I want to leave that to India and hopefully they are going to make the right decision for the people.”
India is probably the highest tariff nation in the world...and I said we have to stop that, we have to stop it, at least, as it pertains to the US
Modi is very religious man... he is a very calm man but he is actually very, very strong person... he’s got that foremost in his mind — terrorism.
He’ll take care of it.
DONALD TRUMP, US President