India and Pakistan have got to 'work it out': Trump

Ties between India and Pakistan got strained after 2016 Uri attack, and the surgical strikes which followed. But in February this year, tensions peaked after Jaish-e-Mohammed, an outfit functioning from Pakistan, orchestrated Pulwama attack, prompting India to launch Balakot airstrikes.

In August, after New Delhi rescinded Article 370, Pakistan saw red (?) and made several attempts to internationalize the matter.

This week, Trump met both Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistan's Imran Khan on the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly. Before the UNGA session in New York, he attended PM Modi's mega rally in Houston.

Thereafter, in his meeting with Khan, the American President renewed his offer for mediation while adding that India has to "ask him too".

Addressing media, Trump said he had "productive discussions" with both Prime Ministers and claimed they were his "good friends".

"You look at the two gentlemen (PM Modi and Khan) heading those two countries... two good friends of mine. I said, fellows work it out, just work it out. Those are two nuclear countries, got to work it out," Trump said.

To note, Trump has more than once offered "help". In fact, White House said that he "encouraged" PM Modi to work towards improving ties with Pakistan and fulfill the promise of making lives of Kashmiri people better.

Later, India's Foreign Minister S Jaishankar remarked that New Delhi had no issues with initiating talks with Islamabad but it can't have a conversation with "terroristan".

Interestingly, Jaishankar said problems with Pakistan go beyond Kashmir as the country has created an "entire industry" of terrorism to carry out attacks on India.

"Issue is not whether to talk or not, everybody wants to talk to their neighbor. The issue is how do I talk to a country that is conducting terrorism and follows a policy of implausible deniability," he asked.