MPs get nod for Pakistan trip after UK drops funding plan

Ministry of External Affairs had advised the MPs that they may not accept hospitality from the organisers of the event.

A group of parliamentarians who were invited to participate in a conference in Islamabad have finally got the clearance for their visit after the organiser of the event,a Pakistani NGO,agreed not to take funding from British Foreign Office for the event,it was reliably learnt. This came due to concerns in the government of India about the involvement of a third country in funding an event for parliamentarians of the two countries,said official sources. The Ministry of External Affairs had,therefore,advised the MPs that they may not accept hospitality from the organisers of the event.

Earlier,the MEA had conveyed to the Lok Sabha Secretariat that it was of considered view that the invitation may be declined. As per a letter dated December 28 written to participating MPs by the Lok Sabha Secretariat,the MEA had conveyed that the agenda of the India-Pakistan Joint Parliamentarians Dialogue,organised in Islamabad from January 5 to 8 by Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT),involves some contentious issues and given the past experience the host side may like to timeframe the issues in their favour.

The agenda of the dialogue,as provided to MPs,included Assessing the Current State of Relations between Pakistan & India: Where are we today and why?; Terrorist Attack in Mumbai: Impact on Pakistan-India Relations and How to move ahead?; Indus Water Treaty & Challenges; and Kashmir,Siachen and Sir Creek: Progress & the Way Forward,among others.

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The letter further stated,The Ministry of External Affairs has conveyed that the funding for this event has been provided by the British Foreign Office. The Ministry is of the considered view that given the complexities of India-Pakistan relations,participation of a large group of MPs,including some senior Members,in an event organised by a Pakistani NGO and funded by the British Foreign Office has its own implications. The Ministry of External Affairs feels that this aspect may be kept in mind by you while taking a final decision to participate in the said Dialogue in Islamabad from 5-8 January 2011. The Ministry have advised that in case you decide to participate in the Dialogue,you may not accept hospitality from the organisers of the event.

The next day,on December 29,the Lok Sabha Secretariat wrote another letter to MPs stating,In case you finally decide to participate in the said dialogue,you are requested to apply for political clearance directly to the Ministry of External Affairs.

Official sources said the government had no objection to parliamentarians of the two countries being engaged in a dialogue to further people-to-people contact. But the invitation and funding had to be from either side. It is rather unusual for a third country to fund a meeting of Indian and Pakistani MPs when traditionally they have been meeting each other. When you bring in funding,you also bring in your agenda. But now the organisers have assured us that there will be no external funding, a government source told The Indian Express.

Among the MPs invited to participate in the dialogue are Mani Shankar Aiyar,Yashwant Sinha,Madhu Goud Yaskhi,Shatrughan Sinha,Naznin Faruque and Satpathy Tathagata,among others.

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