For the second day in a row, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday publicly differed with India’s position on Pakistan being the epicentre of global terror, insisting that it was Iran which topped the list.

Fielding questions before going in for a bilateral with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New York, Trump’s response to a specific question on Pakistan’s role in sponsoring terrorism was: “You mention Pakistan but Iran would have to be on top of the list because if you look at terrorist states, that’s been the No. 1 for a long time.”

A day after the “Howdy, Modi” event, Trump had said in the presence of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan that Iran was the lead state in terrorism.

Later, asked to comment, foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale said this did not come up during the bilateral.

Reuters quoted Imran as saying he was trying to mediate with Iran on Trump’s request.