Surprised by India's reaction: Imran Khan on Trump's mediation offer on Kashmir

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday said that he is "surprised" by India's reaction to Donald Trump's offer to play a role of a mediator on the issue of Kashmir between New Delhi and Islamabad.

"Surprised by reaction of India to Pres Trump's offer of mediation to bring Pak & India to dialogue table for resolving Kashmir conflict which has held subcontinent hostage for 70 yrs. Generations of Kashmiris have suffered & are suffering daily and need conflict resolution," Khan wrote on Twitter.

Trump, during a meeting with Khan at the White House on Monday, had said that he would love to act as a mediator between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir Issue and that a request for the same had been made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Trump's claim of such a request being made was rejected External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Parliament. He emphasised that all outstanding issues with Pakistan are discussed only bilaterally.

In a couple of other tweets on Tuesday, Khan assured Trump that Pakistan would do everything in its power to facilitate Afghan peace process aimed at bringing lasting peace in the country engulfed in a war for 18 years.

He thanked the US President for his "gracious hospitality, as well as for understanding Pakistan's point of view and the "wonderful way of putting entire delegation at ease".

"I want to assure President Trump Pakistan will do everything within its power to facilitate the Afghan peace process. The world owes it to the long-suffering Afghan people to bring about peace after 4 decades of conflict," the Tweet read.

"I want to thank President Trump for his warm & gracious hospitality, his understanding of Pakistan's point of view & his wonderful way of putting our entire delegation at ease. Appreciate the President taking out time to show us the historic White House private quarters," Khan added.

Imran Khan was on a three-day visit to the US, during which he held talks with President Trump at the White House on Monday. The talks had touched upon a range of issues, including the situation in Afghanistan as well as the cancellation of US aid amounting to USD 1.3 billion to Pakistan.