CAA, Article 370 moves led India to international isolation

New Delhi, January 04, 2020 (PPI-OT): India’s former National Security Advisor (NSA) Shivshankar Menon, has said that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the withdrawal of special status of Kashmir under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution had led to India being isolated from the international community, even by its traditional allies.

Addressing an event in New Delhi Shivshankar Menon said, “There has been no meaningful international support for this series of actions, apart from a few committed members of the diaspora and a ragtag bunch of Euro MPs from the extreme right.”

He said many world leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and even King Harald V of Norway have criticised India’s actions. Merkel had on November 1, last year, during a visit to India, said that the present situation in Kashmir is “not sustainable”.

“We seem to know that we are isolated,” Menon said, referring to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s decision to skip a meeting with the Foreign Affairs Committee in the US due to the presence of Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, who has been critical of India’s actions in occupied Kashmir.

The former NSA added that Jayapal’s resolution on Kashmir, urging India to end the communications blockade as quickly as possible, and ensure religious freedom for all, now has 29 co-sponsors, including Republican Party members. He said this list also includes the Indian-origin lawmaker, Raja Krishnamoorthi.

Menon said that India was violating Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which it had signed, by passing the Citizenship Amendment Act. “We seem to be in violation of our international commitments,” he said. “You must consider the political and other consequences of being perceived as violators of international law,” he added.

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