US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar in a meeting with political leaders in Pakistan (Photo Source: Reuters)
The ongoing visit of rabid Islamist US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar to Pakistan has raised many eyebrows. The United States-India Relationship Council (USIRC), on Friday (April 23) said Omar’s visit to Pakistan is unethical, and she must disclose who is sponsoring her on this trip. Omar is on a four-day visit to Pakistan, starting April 20.
The USIRC said, “Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s Pakistan tour raises serious ethical issues. Who is funding her visit? Neither the State Department nor Congressional leadership sanctioned the excursion. USIRC calls on Ilhan Omar to demonstrate accountability and disclose her trip’s financing.”
In Pakistan, Omar visited Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK) on April 20 and held a series of meetings with the POK officials.
In a strong rebuttal, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) condemned Omar’s visit to POK. The MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said on Thursday (April 21), “We have noted that US Representative Ilhan Omar has visited a part of the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir that is currently illegally occupied by Pakistan. If such a politician wishes to practice her narrow-minded politics at home, that may be her business. But violating our territorial integrity and sovereignty in its pursuit makes it ours. This visit is condemnable.”
Omar had criticised the Union government’s move of abrogating Article 370. Article 370, which provided special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, was abrogated by the Union government on August 5, 2019. The erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir was reorganised as two union territories: Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
Distancing the US government from the visit of Omar, Derek Chollet, counsellor to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, said, “It’s an unofficial personal visit and it does not represent any policy change on behalf of the United States government.”
Fuelling the propaganda of the vested interests, Omar had said, “I don’t believe that it (Kashmir) is being talked about to the extent it needs to in Congress but also with the administration.” She had added that the United States Foreign Affairs Committee had previously held hearings to investigate the reports of human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir.
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