New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Sunday slammed Pakistan at the Asian Parliamentary Assembly meeting in Belgrade after it cited developments in Jammu and Kashmir for its inability to host the group's plenary, and said the country was attempting to politicise the forum by referring to an internal matter of India.
"Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of the Indian Union. There is nothing in the situation in Jammu and Kashmir that in any way affects the living and working conditions in his country, let alone in Islamabad," the former minister of state for external affairs said.
"India's internal matters do not spill over its borders and do not impinge upon our neighbours," Tharoor said.
"In the circumstances, it is unfortunate and strange that Pakistan expects this Assembly to accept such a far-fetched excuse for his inability or unwillingness to host the APA plenary in December in 2019," the MP from Thiruvananthapuram said.
Pakistan has tried to raise the Kashmir issue at several multilateral meets, but India has thwarted its efforts.
A parliamentary delegation from India had thwarted Pakistan's attempt to raise the Kashmir issue at a UNICEF event in Sri Lanka last month, asserting that it was India's internal matter.
This is not the first time that Shashi Tharoor has lashed out at Pakistan. He has previously asserted that though there might be differences between political parties when it comes to India's foreign policy, it does not matter. Pakistan is the least qualified to criticize India on the Kashmir issue, the three-time MP from Thiruvananthapuram added.
The Indian parliamentary delegation led by Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla is in Belgrade to attend the 141st assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) to be held in Serbia from October 13 to October 17.
The Indian Parliamentary delegation comprises MPs from across the party lines, including Tharoor, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, Wansuk Syiem, Ram Kumar Verma and Sasmit Patra, the secretariat said.
(With inputs from PTI)
