Archives

NEW DELHI, Thursday (AFP) India began a rearguard diplomatic offensive Wednesday against rising international criticism of Hindu-Muslim riots in the state of Gujarat, saying such comments amounted to external interference in the country's affairs.

The angry reaction came as a national newspaper on Wednesday said unnamed German and Dutch diplomats based in New Delhi had joined a number of Western envoys who have attacked India's Hindu nationalist government for its inept handling of the violence.

The Hindustan Times on Wednesday quoted German and Dutch diplomats as saying the riots in Gujarat were targetted against Muslims.

The Indian foreign ministry said the federal government was capable of handling the situation in the prosperous coastal state of Gujarat, where the deadliest sectarian violence in India in a decade has left more than 850 people, mostly Muslims, dead.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Nirupama Rao said the purported criticism was in the form of selective leaks to the press and asserted none of the countries named by the media had made any official representation to India over the continuing violence.

Diplomats from Britain and other EU countries have been quoted by the Indian media criticising the government over the bloodbath.

"We have not received any official expression of concern from the European Union (EU) countries," Rao told a news conference.

"Some foreign countries and missions in New Delhi are injecting themselves into the highly politically charged internal debate in the country and are creating an impression of playing a partisan role," she added.

"This is contradictory to well-established norms of diplomacy and injurious to the friendly relations that exist between India and the European Union (EU) as well as individual European countries identified in the press as sources of leaks and political interference."

Rao said India's rejection of the criticism would be conveyed to "concerned nations" through normal diplomatic channels.

High-placed Indian diplomatic sources said New Delhi was bracing itself for uncomfortable questions from an EU delegation which is expected to visit the country next month.

Rao said Indian diplomats posted abroad had been meeting with host nations to try to "assuage" their fears on the riots.

"We note with regret that some foreign missions in India continue to interfere in the already-vigorous democratic debate going on in our country, at all levels of the Indian society, on the situation in Gujarat by deliberately leaking their internal reports or making substantive political comments on the subject," Rao said.

She insisted that various state bodies including the autonomous judiciary, human rights panels as well as non-governmental organisations were capable of stemming the violence.

"This reflects the strength of our democracy and attachment to certain principles of governance enshrined in our constitution," Rao said.

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager