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India to boycott Speakers' meet in Pakistan unless J&K is invited

by India Blooms News Service 08 Aug 2015, 08:00 am

New Delhi, Aug 8 (IBNS) India will boycott the meeting of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) in Pakistan if the speaker of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly is not invited.

 Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said on Friday.

The 10-day meeting will be held in Islamabad from September 30.

"We all (the Chairs of state assemblies) met today and have decided that we will boycott the CPA if Pakistan does not send the invite to J&K,"  Mahajan said.

 "Either the venue needs to be changed or we will not attend," she said.

The  CPA is formally headed by the British monarch, but it is the host country which issues invites for the annual meetings.

Reports said Pakistan has excluded Jammu and Kashmir for the meet on the ground of the state's "disputed nature".

"They cited some old rule and said they had mentioned that they will not send the invite to J&K in the UN General Assembly,"  Mahajan said.