New Delhi: Union External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar cancelled his meeting with US lawmakers after they refused to exclude from their delegation Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, who had earlier introduced a resolution urging India to lift bans in Kashmir.
According to an NDTV report, Jaishankar was going to meet the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Eliot L. Engel, the committee’s top Republican, Michael McCaul (Tex.), and others, including Pramila Jayapal, this week in Washington.
Jaishankar is in the US for the 2+2 dialogue.
Indian officials had earlier demanded cancellation of the meeting if the committee included Jayapal, which was refused by Engel.
“I am aware of the draft resolution. I don’t think it is a fair understanding of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir or fair characterisation of what the Indian government is doing. I have no interest in meeting her,” Jaishankar told new agency ANI.
Meanwhile, Jayapal also responded saying the cancellation was “deeply disturbing” and only furthers the idea that the “Indian government isn’t willing to listen to any dissent at all”.
The cancellation of this meeting was deeply disturbing.
It only furthers the idea that the Indian government isn’t willing to listen to any dissent at all. https://t.co/EMeqIr05VJ
— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) December 19, 2019
Also read: Respect India’s national integrity & unity, Jaishankar tells Canada during J&K discussion
Jayapal also spoke about NRC, situation of minorities
Jayapal is the first Indo-American representative from Washington in the US Congress. She recently introduced a bi-partisan resolution urging the Indian government to lift all restrictions in Jammu and Kashmir, which have been in place since the scrapping of Article 370 on 5 August.
Jayapal had introduced the resolution, co-sponsored by Republican Steve Watkins, that urged India to lift the communication clampdown, release political detainees and “preserve religious freedom for all residents” in Jammu and Kashmir.
In September, Jayapal, along with senator James McGovern, had written to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to “press the Indian government” to end all restrictions in Kashmir.
She was also one of the key US Congress members who expressed her concerns over the human rights situation in Jammu and Kashmir during the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearings in South Asia in October.
Jayapal, along with 13 other Congress members, also raised issues related to the National Register of Citizens in Assam and the situation of minorities in India at the hearings.
Also read: Kashmir, citizenship law figure in talks between Jaishankar & Pompeo during 2+2 meet in US