New Delhi: Ahead of the second round of 2+2 India-US dialogue in Washington DC, the headline woes in leading American news outlets continue for New Delhi. External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh are in DC for talks with their counterparts Michael Pompeo and Marc Esper on Tuesday. However the dominant media focus continues to be the situation in Kashmir, police brutality on Jamia University students and protests across campuses in India in the wake of NRC and Citizenship Amendment Act.
'As Protests Rage, Is India Moving Closer to Becoming a Hindu Nation?’ asked a New York Times (NYT) Article. 'Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has rounded up thousands of Muslims in Kashmir, revoked the area's autonomy and enforced a citizenship test in northeastern India that left nearly two million people potentially stateless, many of them Muslim. But it was Mr. Modi's gamble to pass a sweeping new citizenship law that favors every South Asian faith other than Islam that has set off days of widespread protests,' said the NYT article.
'Protests Over India’s New Citizenship Law Widen,' headlined the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). ‘Critics of legislation, which disadvantages some Muslim immigrants, say Prime Minister Modi is undermining country’s secular foundation', it underlined.
‘Protests erupt across India against new citizenship law after police storm university campus’, reported the reputed Washington Post.
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A grim backdrop on the front pages of major US newspapers for Wednesday’s 2 + 2 dialogue between the US (Secretaries Pompeo and Esper) and India (Ministers Jaishankar and Singh). pic.twitter.com/cKCeVItqxf
— Vipin Narang (@NarangVipin) December 16, 2019 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
">A grim backdrop on the front pages of major US newspapers for Wednesday’s 2 + 2 dialogue between the US (Secretaries Pompeo and Esper) and India (Ministers Jaishankar and Singh). pic.twitter.com/cKCeVItqxf
— Vipin Narang (@NarangVipin) December 16, 2019A grim backdrop on the front pages of major US newspapers for Wednesday’s 2 + 2 dialogue between the US (Secretaries Pompeo and Esper) and India (Ministers Jaishankar and Singh). pic.twitter.com/cKCeVItqxf
— Vipin Narang (@NarangVipin) December 16, 2019
The United States Congressional Committees have so far held two hearings on the continued communication blockade and political detentions in Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 in August this year. Meanwhile, the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) has also drawn criticisms and concern in America. Two US panels – Commission on International Religious Freedom and the House Foreign Affairs Committee – have criticised CAA for undermining the basic tenets of democracy. While the UN human rights office issued a statement that CAA was ‘fundamentally discriminatory and inconsistent with India’s international obligations on human rights’.
Read: Amid protests over CAA, US urges demonstrators to refrain from violence
The 2+2 dialogue first initiated in September 2018 will focus on ‘comprehensive review of cross-cutting foreign policy and defence and security issues’, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said ahead of the dialogue. India is hoping it steers clear of Kashmir and CAA controversies though views are to be exchanged on ‘salient regional and global issues’.
"Human rights is not part of this 2+2 discussion that's taking place next week, although I'm confident that issues on Kashmir and the threat perceptions that India sees will obviously be a part of the agenda," Alice G Wells, the acting assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, said last week at a diplomatic function.
Read: Protests in UK over Citizenship Amendment Act, Modi government's 'failures'
Indian government meanwhile has played down the ‘English-speaking western liberal media biases’ and international voices on what it calls its ‘internal matters’. Delivering his keynote remarks at the 4th Ramnath Goenka Lecture on November 14, Dr. Jaishankar underlined such critical voices as ‘uninformed’. “Uninformed comments abroad on our internal affairs is hardly internationalization. And the reputational and real differences between India and Pakistan puts paid to any hyphenation effort. In reality, these fears are but a thinly disguised advocacy of inaction. Their intent, conscious or otherwise, is to legitimize a status quo that has now been overtaken by history,” said the External Affairs Minister.
China Pushes For Second UNSC Hearing On Kashmir
Meanwhile, just ahead of the likely talks between India-China Special Representatives on the Boundary Issue, Beijing is reportedly pushing for another discussion in the Security Council on Kashmir. Chinese foreign minister and state counsellor Wang Yi is expected to be in New Delhi this week to hold boundary talks with NSA Ajit Doval. Ahead of the meeting and following a letter sent over the weekend by Pakistan foreign minister SM Qureshi to the president of the UNSC, alleging Delhi was making preparations to “dismember” Islamabad, China has reportedly asked for Kashmir to be discussed in the Security Council under a provision which does not include any voting. Earlier On August 16, China at the behest of Pakistan brought up J&K in the UNSC, but was only allowed a closed-door discussion without even a public statement. India is banking on its allies and friends to bat for it this time also even though the intensified CAA protests have added to its diplomatic outreach difficulties. New Delhi also continues to flag the February 2020 FATF (Financial Action Task Force) deadline for Pakistan to uphold its assurances of cracking down on terror financing to avoid being put on blacklist by the global watchdog.
Read: China protests with US over officials' expulsion
France continues to be on India’s side with its ambassador Emmanuel Lenain asking other countries to refrain from making comments on India’s domestic affairs in Puducherry last week. Lenain called India’s decision on Jammu and Kashmir as reflective of the ‘will of the majority’. “Peace in Kashmir may be complex but can be attained only through bilateral discussions. There is no benefit in internationalising the issue. It is necessary that all parties refrain from actions that could aggravate tensions. France wishes that individual rights be fully respected and that the situation comes back to normal,” he said.
The Ministry of External Affairs and Chinese Embassy in New Delhi are so far silent on questions about the latest reported moves by Beijing to up the Kashmir ante.
