New Delhi (NVI): Amid widespread violence in Assam over the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), a Summit meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe slated to begin in the state’s capital Guwahati this weekend has been cancelled.
External Affairs Ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar said here today that the two sides have decided to postpone Abe’s visit which was scheduled from December 15-17.
“With reference to the proposed visit of Japanese PM Abe to India, both sides have decided to defer the visit to a mutually-convenient date in the near future,” he tweeted.
Abe was to hold Summit meeting with Modi, which is an annual affair between the two countries since over a decade.
The deferment comes amidst widespread violence in Assam against the CAB, which was passed by Parliament earlier this week.
The controversial legislation, which has since been given assent by President Ram Nath Kovind, provides for granting Indian citizenship to Hindus and other minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Significantly, Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister Abdul Momen and Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan have also cancelled their scheduled visits to India.
Momen was scheduled to visit India from December 12 to 14, mainly for the 6th Indian Ocean Dialogue. He cancelled the visit yesterday, hours before his arrival in India, saying he was required to stay back in Bangladesh for “pressing national events” — the Martyred Intellectuals Day on December 14 and Victory Day on December 16.
Khan was to travel to Meghalaya today at the invitation of Chief Minister Conrad Sangma.
