In what comes as a relief to the Indian government, the European Parliament deferred voting on a resolution against India’s new citizenship law, the CAA, after originally being scheduled for today.
The draft resolution was put forth by 560 of the parliament's 751 members from five different groups, The resolution calls the CAA “discriminatory” and “divisive” and is a culmination of efforts by five different resolutions. On the other hand, the sixth resolution, introduced by the right-wing European Conservatives & Reformists, the second-largest coalition of MEPs, maintained their need to have a separate resolution despite raising similar concerns.
At the beginning of the plenary session this morning, an MEP from the largest bloc in the European Parliament sought an amendment to the resolution and delayed the vote in the “March II” part-session. This move by European Parliamentary Party, which has supported the joint draft resolution against CAA, aimed to seek time for Indian officials to explain and recognize that the matter is still being heard by the Indian Supreme Court, which has sought clarifications from the government. The move was voted on and passed with 271 in favor, 199 against, and 13 abstentions. Although the debate on this issue has gone ahead, the vote will only take place after the Indian Prime Minister’s visit to Europe for the 15th India-EU Summit scheduled on the 13th of March.
This postponement comes a few days after the EU spokesperson on foreign affairs and security policy distanced itself from the “drafts tabled by various political groups in the European Parliament. Clarifying that these resolutions by the independent body “do not represent the official position of the European Union.”
Government sources dub this as a “diplomatic victory” for India, and “prevailing of Friends of India over the Friends of Pakistan at the European parliament.” They add that it the "strenuous efforts of outgoing British member Shaffaq Mohammad to have a resolution passed by the European Parliament against India on the penultimate day before Brexit [have] been defeated."
Image Source: IDFI