As Northeast Boils Over Citizenship Bill, Japan PM Shinzo Abe Cancels India Visit

Assam has been witnessing massive protests in the last two days over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, with thousands of people hitting the streets defying prohibitory orders to demand scrapping of the bill.

The meeting was between Shinzo Abe and PM Modi was scheduled to take place in Guwahati. (File Photo/ AFP)

New Delhi: Keeping in mind the ongoing protest in the Northeastern states of the country over the Citizenship Amendment Bill, the government announced that Japanese Prime Minster Shinzo Abe's meeting with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi that was scheduled to take place this weekend in Guwahati has been postponed. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday confirmed that the meeting between the two leaders in Guwahati "is not happening now". Abe was scheduled to arrive in India on a three-day visit from December 15-17 for annual summit talks with PM Modi. The meeting was to take place in Guwahati, which has been on the boil over the past week as the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill had come up in Parliament . MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a tweet on Thursday afternoon, "With reference to the proposed visit of Japanese PM Shinzo Abe to India, both sides have decided to defer the visit to a mutually convenient date in the near future." 'With reference to the proposed visit of Japanese PM Shinzo Abe to India, both sides have decided to defer the visit to a mutually convenient date in the near future,' Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

With reference to the proposed visit of Japanese PM @AbeShinzo to India, both sides have decided to defer the visit to a mutually convenient date in the near future.

— Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) December 13, 2019

Earlier Japanese media outlets reported that Shinzo Abe was considering cancelling the Indo-Japan annual summit over the violent unrest that has engulfed Guwahati and other parts of Northeast. Assam has been witnessing massive protests in the last two days over the Citizenship Bill, with thousands of people hitting the streets defying prohibitory orders to demand scrapping of the bill. According to Japan's Jiji Press, Shinzo Abe was considering cancelling his trip to India as the security situation has deteriorated in Guwahati. "The Japanese and the Indian governments continue to explore the last possibility," it said. At least two persons died due to bullet injuries on Thursday after police opened fire on protesters in Guwahati. On Wednesday, protesters pulled down hoardings erected in central Guwahati to welcome Abe. Earlier in the day, amid lack of clarity on the summit, PIB Hindi on its Twitter handle posted a photograph of Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal with his Japanese counterpart with the caption saying their meeting was held before the scheduled Modi-Abe dialogue on December 16. Japan is the second nation to postpone visit, as Bangladesh's Foreign and Home Minister have also cancelled their visit to India. Barely hours before his arrival in India for a three-day visit to attend the the Indian Ocean Dialogue and Delhi Dialogue events, Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen criticised the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and said “let them (Indians) fight among themselves”. Moments later it was reported that the minister has cancelled his trip to India. Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) that grants citizenship to religious minorities from three Muslim-majority countries including Bangladesh on grounds that they were being persecuted. India has justified its stand on the entire controversy and said that the Bill provides expedited consideration for Indian citizenship to persecuted religious minorities already in India from certain contiguous countries. MEA spokesperson asserted that every nation has the right to enumerate and validate its citizenry, and to exercise the prerogative through various policies.