No question of accepting mediation on Kashmir: Rajnath

There is "no question of accepting anybody's mediation on the Kashmir issue", Defence Minister Rajnath Singh declared on Wednesday.

Speaking after uproar over US President Donald Trump's claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked him to mediate on the Kashmir issue between India and Pakistan, Rajnath Singh told the Lok Sabha that the statement by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on the matter was most authentic because he was present during talks between the two leaders in Japan.

Responding to the opposition's demand that the Prime Minister should speak, Singh insisted that "there was no talk on Kashmir".

"It is true that talks between the US President and our Prime Minister took place but there was no talk on the Kashmir issue.

"I also want to clarify that there is no question of accepting anybody's mediation on Kashmir issue," he said, adding that this would violate the Shimla Agreement.

This is also a question of the nation's pride, he said. "We can accept everything. We can compromise on anything but we cannot compromise at the cost of our nation's pride."

If there were to be talks with Pakistan, he said, these would cover the Pakistan administered Kashmir as well. IANS