Intense lobbying by Indian diplomats pays off

NEW DELHI: The European Parliament's decision to delay voting on India’s new citizenship law followed intense diplomatic outreach by Indian diplomats and a message to the EU leaders that a vote on the CAA resolution could impact the upcoming Indo-EU summit in Brussels.

ET has learnt that in the week to January 30, the day the voting was to take place, the Indian Mission in Brussels had been in touch with each member of the European Parliament (EP) and explained that voting on the resolution could cast a shadow on the Indian foreign minister’s visit to Brussels on February 17, besides adversely impacting PM Modi’s Brussels visit for the March 13 summit. Voting on the resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), presented by nearly 600 members of the European Parliament, or MEPs, can take place after March 13.

According to sources, the EU was also told that voting may impact the summit’s outcome, and this mainly shaped the decision to defer voting. The upcoming summit is expected to chart a roadmap for Indo-EU collaboration in several areas, including technology, FDI, migration, security partnership, and connectivity initiatives. The EU is increasingly looking at India to rebalance Chinese initiatives in the continent. The Indian government is also learnt to have exposed the links of Shaffaq Mohamed, a PoK-origin MEP from the UK, with the Pakistan Army and ISI. It is learnt that EU lawmakers were informed how the ISI sponsored the first resolution on CAA through Shaffaq.


Shaffaq curiously weakened his case by admitting on the floor of EU Parliament on Wednesday that he was behind the initial resolution against CAA and went to the extent that a vote should be organised before UK MEPs go out of EP on Friday due to BREXIT. ET was the first to report how Shaffaq was the mastermind behind the initial resolution. The lawmakers, sources said, were also informed about the democratic process that was followed while enacting CAA. In New Delhi, similar messages were delivered to the EU mission and the visiting Luxembourg foreign minister, dean of all European Foreign Ministers. The government here is closely monitoring the role that some Europe-based NGOs may have played in influencing MEPs.

Close to 600 lawmakers in the 751-member EP had drafted six resolutions against CAA. The six draft resolutions were coalesced into a single joint motion resolution which was discussed in EP on Wednesday.

While the European Parliament’s resolutions are not binding on the EU Commission, the Indian mission in Brussels is making constant efforts to present the Modi government’s view to EP lawmakers. The resolution alleged that CAA is “discriminatory” and “does not make reference to the other countries that border India, particularly Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal and Sri Lanka, excluding minorities such as the Sri Lankan Tamils, who currently form the largest refugee group in India, and the Rohingya from Myanmar, who, according to the UN, are the world’s most persecuted minority”.