Congress condemns Chinese envoy's pitch for India-China-Pakistan trilateral meet
New Delhi, June 18: The Congress "strongly condemned" Chinese Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui's pitch on Monday for an India-China-Pakistan trilateral meeting under the SCO framework, and called on the government to do the same.
The party also said that all outstanding issues between India and Pakistan will have to be resolved bilaterally in terms of the spirit of the Shimla agreement.
Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said: "We strongly condemn the statement of the Chinese ambassador. We expect the government of India to strongly condemn this unwarranted suggestion which has been made by the Chinese Ambassador.
"It seems that the Chinese ambassador is not cognizant about the India-Pakistan paradigm. We have maintained and continue to maitain that whatever issues or whatever outstanding issues there are with Pakistan have to be resolved in a bilateral format."
"There is absolutely no place for any third party intervention in so far as India and Pakistan and its outstanding disputes are concerned.
"This has been the consistent position of governments across different administrations from 1972 onwards when the Shimla agreement was signed.
"There is absolutely no scope of any third party intervention and we stand by the spirit of the Shimla agreement as well as the resolution passed by the Indian Parliament in 1994 and 2013 respectively," he added.
On the Chinese Ambassador saying bilateral ties between India and China can't take the strain of another Doklam episode, Tewari said: "Doklam did not happen in Pakistani territory. The stand-off happened in Bhutanese territory. How is the statement even relevant to what transpired in Doklam."
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Right to vote under threat, must be made fundamental right: Cong's Jairam Ramesh
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Jairam Ramesh alleged on Thursday that the right to vote is under threat and the time has come when it should be made a fundamental right for citizens.
Speaking with reporters, Ramesh lashed out at Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, saying the Election Commission (EC) has never been as compromised as it has been under him.
"The rot started under his predecessor. This man is a player and not a neutral observer," the Congress leader said, slamming Kumar.
Kumar is completely compromised and has become a player in elections, he alleged.
"Home Minister Amit Shah had talked about three Ds -- detect, delete and deport. So we want to know how many non-Indian citizens have been detected, how many have been deleted and how many have been deported," Ramesh said, adding that the right to vote is now under threat.
On opposition parties submitting a fresh notice in the Rajya Sabha, seeking to move a motion for the CEC's removal, the Congress leader said they will continue to make efforts for Kumar's removal as he is "compromised".
Ramesh also batted for the right to vote to be recognised as a fundamental right.
"I believe that the time has come that the right to vote should be made a fundamental right. It is a statutory right, it is not a fundamental right. Fundamental rights are justiciable," he said.
The former Union minister said this was discussed in the Constituent Assembly, but it was eventually decided that it should be made part of the Constitution.
B R Ambedkar and Jagjivan Ram had warned that in the future, governments might try to disenfranchise voters, he added.
"Once and for all, include the right to vote as a fundamental right for Indian citizens," Ramesh asserted.
