NEW DELHI:  India denied that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked U.S. President Donald Trump to help mediate with Pakistan over the disputed territory of Kashmir, saying there could be no talks until Pakistan ended cross-border terrorism.

Trump said on Monday that Modi had asked him to help resolve the decades-old dispute over the Himalayan region that has been the heart of two of three wars between India and Pakistan since their partition following independence from British rule.

“I would like to categorically assure the house, that no such request was made by the prime minister to the U.S. president,” Foreign Minister Subrahmanyan Jaishankar told parliament as lawmakers demanded clarication of Modi’s position.