India rejects U.S. offer of mediation with Pakistan

India on Tuesday turned down the U.S. offer of mediating with Pakistan, saying that New Delhi's position for bilateral redressal of all issues with Islamabad has not changed yet.

"The government's position for bilateral redressal of all India-Pakistan issues in an environment free of terror and violence hasn't changed," Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said.

The ministry's response came after the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nicky Haley hinted an apparent change in her country's stance of not engaging in bilateral disputes between India and Pakistan.

"It's absolutely right that this administration is concerned about the relationship between India and Pakistan and very much wants to see how we de-escalate any sort of conflict going forward," she said when asked by the media about possible U.S. efforts to get India and Pakistan together for peace talks.

"We very much think that we should be proactive in the way that we are seeing tensions rise and conflicts start to bubble up and so we want to see if we can be a part of that," Haley said in a clear change of stance from the previous U.S. administration under President Barack Obama.

India has consistently declined any third party mediation in the Kashmir issue, which has been a bone of contention between New Delhi and Islamabad.

India and Pakistan both stake claim to Kashmir and have fought three major wars over the disputed territory in the past 65 years. Endit