European Parliament defers Vote Against CAA

TheEuropean Parliament has deferred voting on a resolution against India'sCitizenship Amendment Act (CAA), scheduled for Thursday, that two peoplefamiliar with the matter termed as a "diplomatic victory" for New Delhi.

Accordingto reports, the Parliament was expected to vote on a final joint resolution onthe Citizenship Amendment Act, put forward by some 560 of its 751 members fromfive different groups, on grounds that it is discriminatory against Muslims andviolates India's international obligations.

Theresolution also expressed concern over the National Register of Citizens- anexercise aimed at identifying illegal immigrants marking a dangerous shift inthe way citizenship will be determined in India, thereby creating a large-scalecrisis of statelessness and causing immense human suffering. It has been saidthat their perspective in this matter will be understood by all objective andfair-minded members. The CAA is an internal matter of India that has beenadopted through a democratic process.

Themove of European Parliament to vote on the resolution has been opposed byIndia, which had earlier said that as fellow democracies, the EU Parliamentshould not take actions that call into question the rights and authority ofdemocratically elected legislatures in other regions of the world.

AlthoughEuropean Parliament resolutions do not affect the decisions of the EuropeanCouncil or European Commission, the timing of its passage could have beenawkward given that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Brusselsin March for an India-European Union summit.