Washington: In a meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan at the White House, US President Donald Trump has offered to mediate the Kashmir issue between India and Pakistan.

Trump said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also asked him to help ease tensions between the two neighbouring countries on the Kashmir issue and that he would love to be a mediator.

Trump also said the United States is working with Islamabad to find a way out of the war in Afghanistan. Trump held out the possibility of restoring US aid to Pakistan, depending upon what is worked out, and offered assistance to Islamabad in trying to ease strained ties with India.

The meeting between US President Donald Trump and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is underway at the White House, with talks centering on Afghanistan as the US seeks a peace accord with the Taliban to end more than 18 years of war.

Earlier, Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi termed Khan’s meeting with Trump as start of a new era of bilateral relations.

“The Prime Minister of Pakistan is here to showcase his vision of a “Naya Pakistan” and to start a new era of bilateral relations. We have come with a narrative of peace and prosperity in the region,” Qureshi said in a tweet.

“If I can help in the Kashmir issue, I will help,” “If I could mediate in the Kashmir issue, I would love to help,” Trump said during the meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Trump also said that he “would love to go to Pakistan, if invited”. “Both countries can play an important role in the Kashmir dispute”.

Talking on the Afghan war, Trump said that Washington is working with Islamabad to find a way out of the war in Afghanistan. Trump held out the possibility of restoring US aid to Pakistan, depending upon what is worked out.

The meeting between the two leaders comes nearly six months after Trump accused Pakistan of lying and being duplicitous. This also happens to be Khan’s first visit to USA after being elected to power in August 2018.