India to Boycott Speakers’ Meet in Pak if Jammu and Kashmir Not Invited

India will boycott the meeting of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, or CPA, in Pakistan unless the speaker of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly is invited, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said today. The decision comes amid two terror attacks and repeated ceasefire violations in the state.

The 10-day meeting will be held in Islamabad from September 30.

“We all (the Chairs of state assemblies) met today and have decided that we will boycott the CPA if Pakistan does not send the invite to J&K,” Ms Mahajan said. “Either the venue needs to be changed or we will not attend.”

While the CPA is formally headed by the British monarch, it is the duty of the host country to issue invites for the annual meetings that are meant to identify and help maintain the benchmarks of good governance.

But Pakistan has excluded Jammu and Kashmir for the meet, reportedly raising what it called the state’s “disputed nature”.

“They cited some old rule and said they had mentioned that they will not send the invite to J&K in the UN General Assembly,” Ms Mahajan said today.

Pakistan’s decision had angered India and last month, Ms Mahajan had said the state was an inseparable part of India and Pakistan’s decision was not acceptable.

Confirming the decision of the Speakers, Vikas Swaroop, the spokesperson of the External Affairs Ministry, said three delegates from Jammu and Kashmir were invited for the 3rd Asia and India Regional CPA Conference held in Islamabad in March 2007.

“The unilateral decision of Pakistan,” he said, violates the provisions of the CPA Constitution and this has been recognised by the UK-based CPA Secretariat and the Chairperson of its Executive Committee.

The decision of the Speakers comes on the heels two consecutive terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur and the arrest of a Pakistani terrorist this week.

Repeated ceasefire violations are also on at the Line of Control and the International border, raising tensions despite a recent thaw in the relation between the two countries.