Facing a furore in Parliament over the issue, the governmenthas clarified in no uncertain terms that Prime Minister Narendra Modi did notrequest U.S. President Donald Trump to “mediate or arbitrate” on the Kashmirissue, as Mr. Trump claimed on Monday. Addressing Parliament, External AffairsMinister S. Jaishankar said India remains committed to its policy of discussingall outstanding issues with Pakistan only bilaterally, and assured the Housethat Mr. Modi did not raise this with Mr. Trump at their recent meeting inOsaka during the G-20 summit. In making the claim that has been roundly deniedby New Delhi, Mr. Trump breached several well-laid diplomatic protocols,including one against discussing privileged conversations with a leader, duringa public conversation with another. Mr. Trump also said a “lot” of his talkswith the Pakistan Prime Minister would focus on India and Afghanistan, an odddeparture from the precept of putting bilateral issues to the fore, and beingmore discreet when discussing sensitive relations involving other countries.For New Delhi, it may be time to recognise that Mr. Trump’s comments are a signof new realities in international diplomacy, where leaders care less aboutniceties and more about open communication. Mr. Modi will have to prepareaccordingly for some plain-speaking when he visits the U.S. and meets with Mr.Trump, as he is expected to, in September this year.

In the short term, the government’s decision to address theclaim by Mr. Trump will have nipped any repercussions in the bud. Thegovernment should pursue the issue through diplomatic channels with the U.S.government, and determine whether Mr. Trump made the comments out of confusionor deliberately. India has always opposed any suggestion of third-party mediationon Jammu and Kashmir; both the 1972 Shimla Agreement and the 1999 Lahoredeclaration included India’s and Pakistan’s commitment to resolving issuesbetween them. It is unlikely that Mr. Modi would have spoken out of line withthis policy, and the most charitable explanation for Mr. Trump’s new contentionis that he mistook India’s appeal to the international community to holdPakistan accountable for terror groups on its soil that carry out attacks inKashmir, for a general desire for mediation. Mr. Trump’s comment in March thatthe U.S. successfully mediated for the release of captured fighter pilotAbhinandan by Pakistan may have even given him some hope that the U.S. couldplay a larger role on the Kashmir issue, and New Delhi would need to addressthat. A more worrying proposition is that Mr. Trump took the line favoured byhis Pakistani interlocutors on Kashmir as a way of enhancing his own plans fora pullout from Afghanistan with Pakistan’s help on security and talks with theTaliban. While the damage from Mr. Trump’s words may not have a very lastingimpact on India-U.S. ties, that from any rushed measures to force a resolutionin Afghanistan will have far-reaching and lasting impact, including on India.