New Delhi: Differing with his government's stand of abstaining from voting in UNHRC on the US-sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Friday said that New Delhi should have supported it.
"Congress took a neutral stand at UNHRC by abstaining from voting on the Sri Lanka resolution. There is no unanimity among parties in Tamil Nadu over this issue. Personally I feel India should have supported the resolution. It is my personal opinion. Twenty three countries had supported it and we also should have supported even if it was a watered down one," he said.
The decision could have been taken by officials in the External Affairs Ministry, Chidambaram, who hails from Tamil Nadu where the ethnic conflict involving minority Tamils in Sri Lanka has an emotional appeal, said.
On Thursday, India had abstained from voting in the US-sponsored resolution at UNHRC, saying it imposes an "intrusive approach" of international investigative mechanism which was counter-productive, apart from being "inconsistent
and impractical".
The country had, however, voted against Sri Lanka, charged with alleged war crimes during the peak of hostilities in 2009, in the previous years amid clamour for its support by Tamil Nadu political parties, including former UPA
constituent DMK and ruling AIADMK.
However, the Congress downplayed the Finance Minister P Chidambaram's remark, "He is certainly entitled to that view and we understand that he is from Tamil Nadu. Equally, Congress, on a national perspective is entitled to agree to disagree with it", party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said.
(With inputs from PTI)
Comments
0 comment