Time to move on, says government on Donald Trump's Kashmir remark

NEW DELHI: After the row earlier this week over US President Donald Trump's remarks on Kashmir, the government on Thursday said it was time to "move on" as the state department had issued a clarification on the issue and also keeping in mind the significance of the relationship between the two countries.
"It's time to move on. Our ties with the US are multifaceted and stand on their own merit. We have broad and deep convergence on a range of issues. It is a full-service relationship,'' MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said as he recalled foreign minister S Jaishankar's statement in Parliament reiterating India's position that Shimla and Lahore accords provided the basis for resolution of all issues bilaterally.
Trump had said in his remarks in Washington, in the presence of Pakistani PM Imran Khan, that PM Narendra Modi had sought his mediation in resolving the Kashmir issue in Osaka, where they met this year on the margins of the G20 summit. The two leaders will come face to face again in France next month at G7 but the spokesperson said it was too early to confirm whether or not they would have a bilateral meeting.
"I think we have to look at the relationship from a larger perspective... whatever we have to say, we have done that. Now, the two sides are keen to work together to strengthen the very important partnership," Kumar said.
"We have excellent trade and investment linkages. In the area of defence cooperation, we are moving towards high defence technology tieups. There are plenty of things on the table," the spokesperson added.
Asked whether India conveyed its anguish over Trump's comments to the US, the spokesperson only referred to Jaishankar's statement in Parliament.