West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said the Centre, which named her party's MP in the all-party delegations to tour different countries to campaign against Pakistan's cross-border terrorism, cannot decide the member's name on its own, drawing a sharp response from Union Minister Kiren Rijiju.
Ms Banerjee, the Trinamool chief, also said she didn't receive any request regarding sending a member to the Centre's multi-party diplomatic mission.
Her reaction came after the Centre last week named Trinamool Congress MP Yusuf Pathan to be part of the seven delegations that will tour key world capitals to convey India's message of zero-tolerance against terrorism and Operation Sindoor, which was launched on May 7 after a deadly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam last month.
"No request came to us. If a request came to us, then we could consider it. We are in favour of the country. In the external affairs issue, we have always supported the policy of the Centre. At present, we are supporting the central government's views and actions. They cannot decide the member's name on their own. It is not their choice, it is the choice of the party," she told reporters.
"If they requested me to send someone, we will decide the name and tell them. It is not that we are boycotting or that we are not going," she added amid reports that the Trinamool won't send its MP, or any other party leader, to be part of the multi-party delegations.
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, in response, said it was "not a topic of politics".
"These delegations are not going to represent a party but the country," the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader told reporters.
India's Mega Diplomatic Outreach
The Centre has announced seven all-party delegations that have 31 political leaders from the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and 20 politicians from other parties.
These delegations will be led by BJP MPs Baijayant Jay Panda and Ravi Shankar Prasad, Congress's Shashi Tharoor, Janata Dal United (JDU) leader Sanjay Jha, Shiv Sena's Shrikant Shinde, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) leader Supriya Sule.
They will be assisted by former diplomats.
They are scheduled to visit 32 countries, including the European Union (EU) headquarters in Belgium, and are expected to begin their tour on May 23.
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