BackIndia shared its perspective on CAA, NRC with all nations: MEA
Most countries have accepted that CAA and NRC are India’s internal matter, says the foreign ministryRemarks by Kumar come against the backdrop of news reports quoting unnamed New Delhi-based diplomats as saying they had not been briefed on the matter
PremiumNew Delhi: India has reached out to countries across the world with its narrative on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, or CAA, and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the comments from world capitals reflect an understanding of the Indian position, foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar said on Thursday.
The remarks by Kumar come against the backdrop of news reports quoting unnamed New Delhi-based diplomats as saying they had not been briefed on the matter. Other diplomats based in New Delhi have been quoted as expressing concern over the CAA and the NRC.
“We did reach out to countries across the globe on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the NRC," Kumar said.
“If you notice the reaction that we have received from across the world, barring a few countries, we feel that most of the countries have accepted that this is an internal matter of India and that is what is getting reflected in their pronouncements," he said.
“We did write to our missions and posts. We did tell them to share our perspectives on CAA and NRC with the host governments. There are three to four points that we asked them to share. The first that this is a matter internal to India. We also asked them to convey that the Act just provides expedited consideration for Indian citizenship to persecuted minorities already in India from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. We also conveyed to them that it does not affect the existing avenues that are available to other communities to seek citizenship. It does not seek to strip anybody of Indian citizenship of any faith," Kumar said about the strategy New Delhi deployed to disseminate its views.
The CAA also “does not alter the basic structure of the Indian Constitution," he said. Indian diplomats abroad were told to convey this message to their host governments as well as the media there.
The CAA is aimed at fast-tracking Indian citizenship for Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, Sikhs, Christians, and Parsis from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh who are seen as persecuted minorities in those countries.
“The CAA and NRC are two different processes. There is no correlation between the two," Kumar said. “NRC is an internal matter of India mandated and monitored by the Supreme Court," he said.
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