‘Sign of weakness’: Jayapal on cancelled Jaishankar meet
NEWDELHI:INDIAN American lawmaker Pramila Jayapal has said that the cancellation of a meeting external affairs minister S Jaishankar was to have on Capitol Hill during a recent visit on account of her presence was a “sign of weakness” for a “great democracy” like India, and that it was a “missed opportunity”.
Jayapal has been critical of restrictions in place in Kashmir since the August 5 nullification of Article 370. She spoke forcefully against them at two hearings and has moved a bipartisan resolution in the House of Representatives seeking the lifting of the curbs and protecting religious freedom in India generally.
It is a “sign of weakness for any great democracy to refuse to allow those who have some criticisms to participate in a meeting,” Jayapal has written in an Oped in the Washington Post on Tuesday about a December 18 meeting cancelled on account of her presence. She added that was a “giant missed opportunity for two countries that value dialogue and dissent”.
Jaishankar was scheduled to separately meet the leaderships of the foreign relations committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate on the sidelines of the 2+2 ministerial dialogue he and defence minister Rajnath Singh held with their American counterparts last week.
The meeting with the House Foreign Affairs Committee was cancelled as the Indians felt Jayapal’s presence would be counter-productive as her position on the issues on the table were well-known, that she had made up her mind already, and that she could use the opportunity to “harangue” the minister. New
Delhi has also blamed the House panel for the cancellation saying “no Foreign Minister of any independent country should be pressurised into meeting such politicians with their own agendas”. The congresswoman’s hard-hitting opinion piece continues a back-and-forth between her and the US House panel on one side and the ministry of external affairs on the other into its seventh day even as some people are arguing it was time to “move on” as it has been seen to be overshadowing the wide swathe of outcomes.