NCP asks PM to clear air on US president’s Kashmir remarks
Mumbai, Jul 23 : The NCP on Tuesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to come clear on US President Donald Trump’s remark that he had sought mediation on the Kashmir issue.
NCP chief spokesperson Nawab Malik said it was the PM’s responsibility to clear air on the issue though the Central government has already clarified on it.
“This is a surprising statement (by Trump). Though the government has clarified on the issue, it is Modi’s responsibility to come clear on it. He should clarify whether Trump is lying,” Malik said.
The NCP leader said it has been India’s long-standing position that the Kashmir dispute was to be solved bilaterally and that no third party would be allowed to partake in it.
“Therefore, in such a background, it is pertinent that the prime minister clarifies on Trump’s comment,” he added.
Malik also hit out at leaders of BJP and Shiv Sena for staking claims to the chief minister’s post for their respective parties ahead of the Maharashtra assembly polls.
Referring to Sena president Uddhav Thackeray’s oft-repeated “aamach tharalay” (we have decided) remark with regard to seat-sharing and alliance with the BJP, Malik asked the former to tell people the “truth”.
The NCP leader also claimed that Yuva Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray has taken out ‘Jan Ashirwad Yatra’ eyeing the polls sensing that the BJP might snap ties with the Uddhav Thackeray-led party in the run up to polls.
“It has been the BJP’s track record that it gobbles up its allies. The Shiv Sena will experience the same someday,” Malik added.
