India on Saturday registered its protest on the European Parliament’s recent move to bring a resolution on the Manipur issue. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla broached the issue during a bilateral meeting with European Union Vice-President Nicola Beer on the sidelines of the ongoing G20 Parliamentary Speakers Summit (P20).
Birla “underlined India’s sovereignty and protested against bringing a proposal in the European Parliament on India’s internal issues,” as per a statement by his office on Saturday. He insisted that every nation and parliament is sovereign and their internal issues should not be discussed by others, the statement said.
On her part, Beer emphasised on closer relations between the European Parliament and India, adding that Europe is going through challenging times and sought India’s cooperation.
In July this year, just ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to France for the Bastille Day Parade, the European Parliament had adopted a resolution on the human rights situation in India, with particular reference to the recent clashes in Manipur.
The Parliament in Strasbourg, France, had also called on Indian authorities to put in place measures to halt the ethnic and religious violence and to “protect all religious minorities”.
The move was rejected by India as “unacceptable” and a reflection of “colonial mindset”. Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra had said that it has been made clear to EU parliamentarians concerned that it is a matter “absolutely” internal to India.
Condemning the violence, loss of life and destruction of property in Manipur, the resolution titled ‘India, the situation in Manipur’ said it “denounces in the strongest terms nationalistic rhetoric deployed by leading members of the Bharatiya Janata Party.”
India was also slated to raise the issue of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s statement in the nation’s Parliament last month about India’s alleged involvement in the killing of Khalistani separatist leader Hardeep Nijjar. Speaker of the Canadian Senate, Raymonde Gagne, skipped the Summit despite confirming her participation last week.
Birla also held several other bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the P20 Summit, which concluded on Saturday.
The statement from Birla’s office said that during his meeting with Valentina Matvienko, Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of Russia, he noted the long-standing deep relations between the two countries and how they have stood together in times of crises.
During his talks with his Turkish counterpart Numan Kurtulmus, Birla mentioned Operation Dost as a symbol of India’s friendship towards Turkey and hoped that the nation will soon recover from the damage caused by the recent earthquake.
He also commended Kurtulmus’ views towards Mahatma Gandhi, noting the civilisational ties between India and Turkey.
Besides these, there were talks with Speakers and delegates from Singapore, Netherlands, South Africa and Mexico. The Ninth P20 Summit was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, and concluded with a valedictory address by Birla on Saturday.
During his address, Birla stressed on multilateralism, adding that in today’s interconnected world, we cannot view any particular issue in isolation. On the conclusion of India’s P20 presidency, India handed over the presidency to the Parliament of Brazil.
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