There was no recent Modi-Trump meet: Government sources on US President's 'mediation' offer

On Thursday, the Ministry of External Affairs made it clear that India is directly in touch with the Chinese side through established mechanisms and diplomatic contacts to resolve the row.

NEW DELHI: There has been no recent contact between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump, government sources said on Friday.

The clarification came after Trump said in Washington that he spoke to Modi over India's ongoing border row with China in Eastern Ladakh.

On Tuesday, Trump offered to mediate between India and China to resolve the border dispute.

"The last conversation between Modi and Trump was on April 4 on the subject of hydroxychloroquine," a source said.

On Thursday, the Ministry of External Affairs made it clear that India is directly in touch with the Chinese side through established mechanisms and diplomatic contacts to resolve the row.

Trump again on Friday said that he spoke with Narendra Modi about the "big conflict" and asserted that the Indian Prime Minister is not in a "good mood" over the latest flare-ups between the two countries.

Speaking with the reporters in the Oval Office of the White House on Thursday, Trump said a "big conflict" was going on between India and China.

"I like your prime minister a lot. He is a great gentleman," the president said.

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"Have a big conflict 'India and China. Two countries with 1.4 billion people (each). Two countries with very powerful militaries. India is not happy and probably China is not happy," he said when asked if he was worried about the border situation between India and China.

"I can tell you; I did speak to Prime Minister Modi. He is not in a good mood about what is going on with China," Trump said.

A day earlier, the president offered to mediate between India and China.

Trump on Wednesday said in a tweet that he was "ready, willing and able to mediate" between the two countries.

Responding to a question on his tweet, Trump reiterated his offer, saying if called for help, "I would do that (mediate). If they thought it would help" about "mediate or arbitrate, I would do that," he said.

"I like Modi. I like your prime minister a lot. He is a great gentleman. (He is doing a) great job," Trump told White House reporters in an Oval Office exchange on Thursday.

For the second time in less than a fortnight, he confirmed of having spoken to Modi.

Neither the White House nor the Prime Minister's Office has issued readouts of the two telephonic conversations, but from Trump's public remarks, it appears that he and Modi talk to each other regularly.

Responding to a question, Trump acknowledged that he knew he was popular in India.

"I know (I am popular in India). They (people) like me in India. I think they like me in India certainly more than the media likes me in this country," he said.

From the very start of his presidency, Trump has gone out of his way to show his love and affection for Modi and India.

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After the historic "Howdy Modi" event in Houston last September and "Namaste Trump" rally in Ahmedabad this February, Trump has not let any opportunity go without praising Modi.

"I just got back from India, right? I just beat COVID," he said.

The two leaders like each other a lot, given their frequent conversations and twitter exchanges.

Same is the case with other members of the president's family, who are genuinely in love with India and the Indian-Americans.

Be it First Lady Melania Trump; the president's daughter and senior presidential advisor Ivanka Trump; son-in-law Jarred Kushner, also a presidential advisor, they all frequently tweet on India and Indian-Americans.

The president's son Donald Trump Jr, along with Kimberly Guilfoyle, advisor to Donald J Trump for President, Inc.

and National Chair of the Trump Victory Finance Committees, also echos Trump's love for India and Indian-Americans.

"So much so, Prime Minister Modi praised Jared Kushner, saying that everything Jared does is positive, while addressing a crowd of 110,000 people at a rally for Trump in India," said Al Mason co-chair of the Trump Victory Indian American Finance Committee.

India on Wednesday said it was engaged with China to peacefully resolve the border row, in a carefully crafted reaction to Trump's offer to arbitrate between the two Asian giants to settle their decades-old dispute.

"We are engaged with the Chinese side to peacefully resolve it," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, replying to a volley of questions at an online media briefing.

While the Chinese Foreign Ministry is yet to react to Trump's tweet which appears to have caught Beijing by surprise, an op-ed in the state-run Global Times said both countries did not need such a help from the US President.

"The latest dispute can be solved bilaterally by China and India. The two countries should keep alert on the US, which exploits every chance to create waves that jeopardise regional peace and order," it said.

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Wednesday that both China and India have proper mechanisms and communication channels to resolve the issues through dialogue and consultations.

Trump previously offered to mediate between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue, a proposal which was rejected by New Delhi.

The situation in eastern Ladakh deteriorated after around 250 Chinese and Indian soldiers were engaged in a violent face-off on the evening of May 5 which spilled over to the next day before the two sides agreed to "disengage" following a meeting at the level of local commanders.

Over 100 Indian and Chinese soldiers were injured in the violence.

The incident in Pangong Tso was followed by a similar incident in north Sikkim on May 9.

(With PTI Inputs)