By Aarti Tikoo Singh
New Delhi/Washington, Feb 4 (IANS): As Pakistan continues to launch its diplomatic offensive against India worldwide, a city council in the US has passed a resolution condemning the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) which fast tracks Indian citizenship to persecuted minorities in three theocratic states in South Asia.
The Indian American Muslim Council in the US welcomed the Seattle City Council's unanimous resolution against CAA, which was recently enacted by the Modi government and National Registry of Citizens (NRC) which the government aspires to set up.
Officials in New Delhi, however, maintained the government's stand on CAA, saying the legislation was passed by the Indian Parliament which represents the democratically elected legislature of the country, and therefore remains an internal matter of India. There is no official notification on NRC and as of now it does not exist, officials said.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is on a two-day visit to Malaysia, lashed out against India on Tuesday over CAA and Kashmir. Khan has been travelling around the world campaigning against India ever since the Modi government reorganised Jammu & Kashmir in August 2019, nullifying Article 370 of the Indian Constitution which granted autonomy to the only Muslim majority state in India.
Under the pressure of Saudi Arabia, Khan had skipped an Islamic summit hosted by Malaysia Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in Kuala Lumpur in December last year.
Turkey, supported by Malaysia and Pakistan, has been attempting to compete with Saudi Arabia for leadership of the Islamic world. All three countries have been critical of India over Kashmir and CAA.
Saudi Arabia, which had not been invited to the Malaysian summit of Muslim nations, took offence to Imran Khan's participation. Since Pakistan is obliged to the Saudi kingdom for its massive financial aid, Khan at the last minute had decided to skip the summit.
In Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, Khan said that Pakistan will buy more palm oil from Malaysia since India, the top buyer, has put curbs on imports last month.