Imran Khan and Donald Trump were addressing a joint press conference in New York on Monday on the sidelines of the 74th UN General Assembly session, when the Pakistani prime minister said: "Trump heads the most powerful country in the world. And the most powerful country in the world has a responsibility. I honestly feel this (Kashmir) crisis could become much bigger. We look to the US to put out flames in the world."
Both spoke about the recent developments in Indian-administered Kashmir, with Khan cautioning Trump about "the beginning of a crisis."
Some netizens saw the humour in Khan’s remark, while others were less charitable about the comments by the two heads of state.
Specifically referring to Kashmir, President Trump said: "I think I would be an extremely good arbitrator. I've done it before, believe it or not. And I've never failed as an arbitrator. I've been asked to arbitrate disputes — pretty big ones — from ... friends.”
Trump met with Khan on Monday, a day after attending the “Howdy Modi” rally in Houston with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Trump-Khan meeting was the second one since July when the US president offered to mediate the decades-long Kashmir conflict.
Trump also held phone talks with the Pakistani and Indian prime ministers in August when the Kashmir crisis was at its height.
Relations between nuclear-armed Pakistan and India have plummeted since the Indian parliament scrapped the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir state.
The stripping of this special quasi-autonomous status was followed up by another announcement that Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh would be separate federal government administered union territories.
Islamabad rejected the Indian move, calling it a direct violation of the UN Resolutions on Kashmir and the bilateral Simla Agreement of 1972. It downgraded diplomatic relations and suspended trade with New Delhi.
India and Pakistan have fought two wars over Kashmir since gaining independence from British colonial rule in 1947.