INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump says he would do his best to mediate or help somehow with the tensions between India and Pakistan over
Kashmir issue.Speaking a day after phone calls with the premiers of both countries, Trump said he was happy to try and help calm the
situation in occupied Kashmir where tensions have spiked since India revoked autonomous rule on August 5.His comments came as Pakistan said
three of its civilians died in Indian gunfire from across the Line of Control.Trump -- who has previously spoken of his willingness to
mediate -- said he would raise the situation over the weekend with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Both men are expected in France for a summit of the Group of Seven industralized nations."Kashmir is a very complicated place
You have Hindus and you have the Muslims and I wouldn''t say they get along so great," Trump told reporters at the White House."I will do
the best I can to mediate," he added.At least 4,000 people have been detained in Indian-occupied Kashmir since early August when authorities
imposed a communications blackout and restricted freedom of movement in the region.A senior US official, who has just returned from a visit
to the region, called on India Tuesday to quickly release detainees and restore basic liberties."We continue to be very concerned by reports
of detentions, and continued restrictions on the residents of the region," the State Department official told reporters."We urge respect for
individual rights, compliance with legal procedures and an inclusive dialogue," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.-
British PM Johnson speaks to Modi -India has bristled at any suggestion of foreign mediation and strenuously denied a claim by Trump last
month that Modi had invited him to act a peacebroker.It was also left seething when the UN Security Council held its first formal meeting on
Kashmir in nearly half a century last week, saying it would not accept "international busybodies tell(ing) us how to run our lives."British
Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Modi in a phone call on Tuesday that the Kashmir dispute must be resolved between India and Pakistan
alone.Johnson "made clear that the UK views the issue of Kashmir as one for India and Pakistan to resolve bilaterally
He underlined the importance of resolving issues through dialogue," a spokeswoman for his Downing Street office said.But in a further sign
of the international concern about the situation, officials in France said that President Emmanuel Macron would bring up Kashmir with Modi
when the two meet in Paris ahead of the G7 summit.TheIndianSubcontinent has not verified the content of the source
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