Sanjrani rejects India’s invitation to visit New Delhi

ISLAMABAD: Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani has excused himself from visiting New Delhi on the invitation of India’s Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, sources said Thursday.

Sanjrani is not travelling to India in protest of New Delhi's August 2019 move to revoke the special status enjoyed by Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Last month, the Senate chairman was invited to attend the 100th celebrations of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. He also criticised the Modi-led government for abolishing Articles 370 and 35-A of the Indian constitution.

The centennial celebrations of the Lok Sabha and Public Accounts Committee will be held on December 4. The invitation letter sent by the Indian speaker had said President Ram Noth Govind will inaugurate the event, while Prime Minister Modi would also deliver a speech.

On August 5, 2019, the Indian government had rushed through a presidential decree to abolish Article 370 of the Constitution which grants special status to Indian occupied Kashmir, as tensions mounted in the disputed valley with an unprecedented number of Indian troops deployed in the region.

India's Home Minister Amit Shah had introduced a resolution to scrap Article 370 in Rajya Sabha, which revoked the special status granted to occupied Kashmir and made the state a Union Territory with the legislature.