PM Modi raises Imran Khan's 'extreme' anti-India rhetoric with Donald Trump

Alluding to recent statements by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday told US President Donald Trump that extreme rhetoric and incitement to anti-India violence by certain leaders in the region were not conducive to peace.

According to a government statement, Modi and Trump had a 30-minute telephonic conversation. “In the context of the regional situation, the prime minister stated that extreme rhetoric and incitement to anti-India violence by certain leaders in the region was not conducive to peace,” it stated.

Modi, the statement said, highlighted the importance of creating an environment free from terror and violence, and eschewing cross-border terrorism without exception.

The prime minister recalled his meeting with Trump in Osaka on the margins of G-20 summit in end-June. “The PM expressed the hope that the commerce minister of India and the US trade representative would meet at an early date to discuss bilateral trade prospects for mutual benefit,” the statement read.

However, the Osaka meeting had led to some confusion between the US and India. On July 22, while addressing the media, along with the Pakistani PM in Washington, Trump had said Modi at their Osaka meeting asked him to mediate between India and Pakistan on the issue of Kashmir. India and the US had later denied the claim.

Modi, the statement said, recalled that Monday marked 100 years of the independence of Afghanistan. “The PM reiterated India’s longstanding and unwavering commitment to work for united, secure, democratic and truly independent Afghanistan,” the statement said. The US is in talks with the Taliban for reaching a peace deal before pulling out its troops from there.

On Sunday, the Pakistani PM in a series of tweets said that the “Hindu Supremacist Modi government poses a threat to Pakistan as well as to the minorities in India...”

“The world must also seriously consider the safety and security of India's nuclear arsenal... This is an issue that impacts not just the region but the world,” Khan tweeted. He said the UN should send its observers to Kashmir.

On Friday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had said India’s nuclear ‘no first use’ policy could be reviewed. Sources said the statement was a warning to Pakistan, which does not ascribe to the ‘no first use’ policy to not indulge in any misadventure.

Defence tops PM’s France visit agenda 

PM Narendra Modi will start a two-day visit to France on August 22 during which he will hold talks with French President Emmanuel Macron to strengthen strategic ties in sectors such as defence, nuclear energy, maritime cooperation and counter-terrorism. From France, the PM will proceed for bilateral visits to the UAE and Bahrain, and will return to the French city of Biarritz on August 25 to attend the G7 Summit, where India has been invited as a partner nation. PTI