Home India Corner Govt officials deny conversation between Modi, Trump on India-China standoff

Govt officials deny conversation between Modi, Trump on India-China standoff

After US President Donald Trump said India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not in a “good mood” on India-China border tussle, the government officials have denied any such conversation. No contact took place between Modi and Trump recently, news agency ANI reported citing unidentified government sources as saying on Friday. The last conversation between the two leaders was on April 4 revolved around hydroxychloroquine (HCQ).

“There has been no recent contact between PM Modi and US President Trump. Last conversation between them was on 4 April,2020 on the subject of Hydroxychloroquine. Yesterday MEA had also made it clear that we’re directly in touch with China through established mechanisms & diplomatic contacts”, news agency ANI reported citing government sources.

“I like your prime minister a lot. He is a great gentleman. Have a big conflict… India and China. Two countries with 1.4 billion people. Two countries with very powerful militaries. India is not happy and probably China is not happy,” Trump was speaking to reporters at the Oval Office on Thursday. “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,” he added.

Trump had earlier offered to mediate between India and China on the border standoff. On Wednesday, Trump had tweeted that he was “ready, willing and able to mediate” between the two neighbouring nations.

Earlier, the US President Donald Trump had warned India of possible retaliation if it doesn’t allow the export of the HCQ tables to the US. Donald Trump had urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to relax India’s ban on HCQ tablets so that the drug could be used to treat coronavirus patients in the US.