(Image source from: deccanherald.com)

The President of the United States, Donald Trump has met Imran Khan, the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Tuesday in Davos.

The President has said that the US has been watching the relationship that India and Pakistan share and the developments regarding the same. He had also said that, he would be helping in resolving the longstanding dispute between the two neighboring countries.

Trump has met the Prime Minister of Pakistan on the sidelines of the World Economic forum in Davos in Switzerland. He had described Imran Khan as a a very good friend as he said that the two countries would not only be talking about the trade but also about many other things.

Trump has mentioned talking about the Kashmir issue and the relation that is being shared by India and Pakistan. He has also mentioned that the US and Pakistan are also working together on some borders.

Talking about the Kashmir issue, the President trump has said that US will certainly be helping if it can help as they have been watching and following the issue regarding Kashmir very, very closely, as stated by Trump on the white House website.

Imran Khan has described Kashmir as a big issue, as a response to Donald Trump. He has also said that the US is expected to do it part in resolving the matter as no other other can.

Trump has been asked if he would be visiting Pakistan as he is likely to visit India in the coming weeks, to which he has given a vague reply saying that he was meeting the Pakistan premier in Davos. Trump is expected to visit India in the last week of February, marking his first visit after taking up his post in the White House.

Regarding the Washington’s ties with Islamabad, Trump has said that they have had a great relationship. He added saying that, Pakistan has never been closer as it is now and has also elaborated saying that they are been very close right now because of the relationship that they share and not that they were close as a country at all times.

Trump has been repeatedly asked to mediate the Kashmir issue following the decision that has been made by India on August 5 to revoke special status to Jammu and Kashmir and to bifurcate the state into two union territories as Jammu & Kashmir being one territory and the other territory being Ladakh, which has evoked Pakistan which has been trying to internationalize the issue of Kashmir.

The move has been defended by New Delhi saying that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India which in turn means that the issue is strictly internal to the country.

This is said to be the third leadership- level interaction between Trump and Imran Khan since the initial visit of Imran Khan to Washington last July.

Khan has left for Switzerland for attending the World Economic Forum and meet President Trump and the world leaders, on the sidelines of the annual event that has kicked off at the ski resort town of Davos on Tuesday.

The event is to deliberate on contemporary economic, geopolitical, social and environmental issues by nearly 3,000 participants from 118 countries which includes political leaders, business executives, heads of international organizations and representatives of the civil society, with a total of 52 heads of States on the guest list.

By Shrithika Kushangi