The Narendra Modi government, asked if it had protested US President Donald Trump’s claim that Modi had requested him to mediate on Kashmir, said on Thursday: “It is time to move on.”

“It is an extremely important relationship.... Our position in this matter has been explained in both Houses of Parliament. From the ministry of external affairs, I have made a statement. The state department in Washington, they have issued a clarification that their position on this particular issue remains the same and that there has been no change,’’ foreign office spokesman Raveesh Kumar said at a weekly briefing.

India has always maintained that the Kashmir issue is a bilateral dispute with Pakistan, with no room for third-party mediation. But Trump said at a joint news conference with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan that Modi had asked him to mediate.

Asked if India had registered a protest with the US for Trump misrepresenting the Prime Minister, Kumar referred to the statements made in Parliament by the external affairs minister S. Jaishankar and the statements coming out of the state department. “That explains,” he said, refusing to comment further whichever way the question was framed.

Asked if India was disappointed that Trump did not flag the issue of terrorism during the news conference where he dropped the “Modi-asked-me-to-mediate-on-Kashmir” bombshell, the spokesman drew media’s attention to follow-up statements from the state department referring to counter-terrorism.

“But you also have to look at the positives. And, there are several positives, which has strengthened over the last few years. We have to look at this relationship from a larger perspective.’’

Politically, the government’s hand has been strengthened by the fact that the Opposition has backed off after a day of protests on Tuesday when they insisted on a response from the Prime Minister himself.

The Congress, in particular, did not want to pursue it beyond a point, given that it is a sensitive issue.

Speaking in Mumbai, Congress leader Salman Khurshid joked: “Maybe Prime Minister Modi wanted to say, ‘why don’t you meditate for yoga”, and he (Trump) thought Modi was asking him to mediate. It was a problem of communication. But diplomacy is all about communication.”