Will meet India, Pak PMs soon, says US President Donald Trump
Washington, Sep 17: US President Donald Trump on Monday said he will be meeting the prime ministers of India and Pakistan soon, even as he maintained that tension between the two Asian countries had reduced.
While Trump will address Indian-Americans, along with PM Modi, at the "Howdy Modi!" event in Houston on September 22, the American president did not say when or where will he be meeting PM Khan.
"I'll see Prime Minister Modi and I will we'll be meeting with (prime ministers of) India and Pakistan," Trump told reporters in response to a question at the White House on Monday.
According to Trump's schedule, he could meet the Pakistani Prime Minister on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly Session in New York later this month.
After addressing a record crowd of more than 50,000 Indian-Americans at the "Howdy Modi!" event , Trump will travel to Ohio and then is expected to fly to New York to attend the Annual General Assembly Sessions of the United Nations.
Without mentioning Kashmir, Trump said a "lot of progress has been made in reducing tension" between India and Pakistan.
Tension between India and Pakistan escalated after New Delhi revoked Jammu and Kashmir's special status on August 5. Reacting to India's move on Kashmir, Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties with New Delhi and expelled the Indian High Commissioner.
Pakistan has been trying to internationalise the Kashmir issue but India has asserted that the abrogation of Article 370 was its "internal matter". New Delhi has also asked Islamabad to accept the reality and stop its anti-India rhetoric.
The "Howdy, Modi!" event would the first time that an American president addresses thousands of Indian-Americans at one place in the US.
It comes ahead of the 2020 presidential elections in the US in which the influential Indian-American community members are expected to play a greater role. President Trump, a Republican, has already announced his candidature.
India's Ambassador to the US Harsh Vardhan Shringla has called Trump's participation in the "Howdy, Modi!" event "historic" and "unprecedented".
"It is reflective of the strong bonds of friendship and cooperation that has developed between India and the US," Shringla told PTI.
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Congress names candidates for 8 Haryana LS seats, fields Kumari Selja, Deepender Hooda
Chandigarh (PTI): The Congress on Thursday announced candidates for eight of the nine Lok Sabha seats it is contesting in Haryana, fielding former Union minister Kumari Selja, Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Hooda and youth leader Divyanshu Budhiraja, besides two sitting MLAs.
The party has also fielded former MP Jai Prakash and leaders Satpal Brahmachari and Mahendra Pratap, according to the list released late Thursday evening.
The Congress is contesting nine of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana. It has not yet announced its candidate for the Gurugram constituency.
The Aam Aadmi Party, a constituent of the opposition INDIA bloc, will contest the Kurukshetra seat.
Congress general secretary and former Union minister Selja will contest from the Sirsa (reserved) seat and sitting MLAs Varun Choudhary and Rao Dan Singh from the Ambala (reserved) and the Bhiwani-Mahendragarh Lok Sabha seats, respectively.
Deepender Hooda, son of former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, will enter the fray from Rohtak. He has represented the Rohtak parliamentary constituency three times in the past.
Jai Prakash has been fielded from Hisar, the Congress' Haryana youth wing president Divanshu Budhiraja from Karnal, Satpal Brahmachari from Sonipat and Mahendra Pratap from Faridabad.
