Asserting a strong stand, India boycotts Pakistan National Day after JK separatists were invited

New Delhi, March 22: Amidst the mounting tensions between India and Pakistan, the two countries have been at loggerheads. With India taking off the Most Favoured Nation tag from Pakistan, the country has made its stand clear on eliminating terrorism and not supporting nations harbouring terrorism. In a latest development, India has decided not to attend Pakistan’s National Day celebrations at Pakistan High Commission in Delhi on Friday. The move came in as the government decided against sending any representative to the High Commission due to Islamabad’s decision to invite Hurriyat leaders on the occasion.

 

It has been reported that the Pakistan High Commission has invited Hurriyat representatives to the Pakistan National Day reception. Therefore, the government will not be sending any official representative to the event. In the last five years, the government had set its reservations on the Pakistan High Commission engaging with the Hurriyat leadership, but did not boycott the event.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s call to Hurriyat leaders in February didn’t go down well with Indian government. India had objected to Pakistan Minister calling up Hurriyat leaders including Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq ahead of an event organised in London to mark the Islamabad’s solidarity with a Kashmir-related event.

The government has withdrawn security of several separatist leaders including Geelani and Mirwaiz after the Pulwama incident. Also, they are under the NIA lens in connection with terror funding case.

Pakistan celebrates its National Day on March 23 every year to mark the Lahore Resolution, also called Pakistan Resolution. However, the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi hosts the reception a day earlier. The resolution was passed on March 23 in 1940 which is considered a major milestone in the Muslims’ fight for an independent state.

The government sent its representatives to attend the celebrations at the Pakistan High Commission despite the presence of Hurriyat leaders. In 2015, MoS for External Affairs VK Singh had attended the event. In 2016, the government deployed MoS for Environment Prakash Javadekar, MoS for External Affairs MJ Akbar in 2017 and MoS for Agriculture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in 2018.

The latest decision comes amid heightened tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours following the Pulwama terror attack that was carried out by Pakistan-based terror group JuD of Masood Azhar.