India will boycott Commonwealth Parliamentary Union meeting in Pakistan: Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan

NEW DELHI: India will boycott a Commonwealth Parliamentary Union (CPU) meeting in Islamabad next month to protest against Pakistan not inviting the Speaker of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.

"A meeting of Speakers of all Indian states in Delhi today decided that India will boycott the meeting of the CPU if the Speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly is not invited," Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan told reporters after the meeting.

The decision of the Speakers come after tensions between the two countries over the recent terror attacks in Gurdaspur in Punjab and near Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir by terrorists who had infiltrated from Pakistan.

Mahajan said this was against a rule in the CPU in which all the Speakers, who are members of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), have to be invited to the CPU meeting.

"It is wrong (on the part of Pakistan). They highlighted an old rule of 1951-57 regarding their having raised an issue in the UN Security Council for not inviting Jammu and Kashmir Speaker," she said adding it had lost relevance.

The Lok Sabha Speaker said Pakistan gave this reply when India took up the matter strongly with the CPA Chairperson and Secretary General on not inviting Jammu and Kashmir Speaker.

"When the 3rd Asia and India Regional CPA Conference was held in Islamabad, Pakistan in March 2007, the Jammu & Kashmir Branch was invited by Pakistan CPA Branch and three delegates from Jammu & Kashmir had participated in the Conference. The unilateral decision of Pakistan in not inviting Jammu & Kashmir CPA Branch to the 61st CPA Conference violates the provisions of the CPA Constitution," said Ministry of External Affairs in a statement.

India Friday announced repatriation of 16 Pakistani prisoners, out of which 13 were held in Jammu and Kashmir jails, along with nine fishermen. On August 2, Pakistan had released 163 Indian fishermen, mostly from Gujarat.