Published 19:59 IST, February 25th 2020
'Spoke to PM Modi on Taliban peace deal, everybody is happy,' says POTUS Donald Trump
On his visit to India, US President Trump said that he spoke with PM Narendra Modi regarding the Taliban peace deal and added that everybody is "happy" about it
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United States President Donald Trump who is on a two-day visit to India said on Tuesday that he spoke with Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the Taliban peace deal and added that everybody is "happy" about it.
"I spoke to PM Modi on it. I think India would like to see it happen. We are pretty close. Everybody is happy about it," said Trump during a press conference.
Earlier this week, the US and Taliban negotiators agreed to finalise the pact on February 29 if a seven-day cooling-off period passed off peacefully. The truce came into effect on Friday night.
Donald Trump had said he would put his name on the peace deal with the Taliban if no major violence took place in Afghanistan for a week or two.
Taliban is “tired of fighting”
The US President on Monday said that the Taliban is “tired of fighting” and hopes to reach a deal. Trump also said that he would sign the peace truce if one is eventually reached in Afghanistan. The US President's comments came after a partial implication of the deal took effect on February 22 with the Taliban, US, and Afghan forces agreed for a week-long “reduction in violence”.
“I would put my name on it”, said Trump when talking about the peace deal with the Taliban. According to international media reports, the US President said that the cooling-off period has “been holding up”. He further added that if a deal is reached in another “week and a half” he would sign it because the Taliban “want to make a deal too”.
The peace accord will apparently set conditions for Washington and the Taliban will sign it on February 29 in Doha. This would also lead to the withdrawal of the American troops of nearly more than 18 years.
'Had a great time in India'
The US President also said that India is a tremendous country and he had a great time here.
"We had a great time. We had great meetings. This is a tremendous country. I think they like us more than they ever liked us. There is a great relationship between the Prime Minister (Modi) and myself," he said.
Trump, who visited Ahmedabad and Agra with his family on Monday, had delegation-level talks with the Prime Minister Modi on Tuesday.
In Ahmedabad, he addressed the 'Namaste Trump' event which witnessed the presence of over one lakh people. In Agra, Trump and his wife Melania visited the Taj Mahal.
19:59 IST, February 25th 2020