EAM shares India's perspective on citizenship law with US' Foreign Relations Committee

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who is in the US for 2+2 dialogue, has shared India's perspective on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's leadership in Washington.

However, the issue of citizenship law did not figure during the Indo-US foreign and defence ministerial dialogue, under the 2+2 dialogue framework, as it is an internal matter of India, MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said on Thursday.

"This issue, being an internal matter of India, was not discussed in the two-plus-two meeting," he said during a media briefing.

Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held extensive talks with their US counterparts Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Wednesday under the framework.

Kumar said Jaishankar shared India's perspective on the amended citizenship law with the leadership of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday.

He also suggested that the issue was not discussed during the bilateral talks between Jaishankar and Pompeo.

Kumar also asserted that outreach to foreign governments on the issue will continue.

On Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi's comment on protests in India over the citizenship law, the MEA Spokesperson said Islamabad should look inwards and not try to meddle into affairs of a neighboring country. "They should behave like a normal neighbour."
On Afghanistan being reportedly upset over comments by Home Minister Amit Shah that some Hindus in Afghanistan faced religious persecution, Kumar said the period referred to was during the Taliban rule. "We did not say that persecution took place under the current government."