NEW DELHI: Former Indian foreign secretary and former envoy to Pakistan Shivshankar Menon on Friday said the country faces international isolation over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s push to segregate people and assign citizenship to them on the basis of religion.

His comments came as Home Minister Amit Shah said at a public meeting in Rajasthan that his government would not budge an inch on the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

“Cumulative effect of a series of actions, including what happened in Kashmir. We seem to know we are isolated. External Affairs Minister ducked a meeting with US legislators,” said Mr Menon while addressing a public hearing in New Delhi organised by the Constitutional Conduct Group and Karwan-e-Mohabbat.

Dwelling on the international consequences of the two-pronged challenges of the CAA and the National Register for Citizens, Mr Menon expressed concern about the future of the idea of India.“Global public opinion on India has shifted if you see the international press. It’s a self-inflicted goal,” The Hindu quoted him as saying as protests against the twin measures continued to swamp the country. He noted with concern that even India’s friends were speaking in a dismissive manner about the internal developments in the country.

“Bangladesh Foreign Minister said ‘let them fight among themselves’. If this is how our friends feel, what must our adversaries feel,” said Mr Menon, noting that even the Kashmir issue that was dormant at the United Nations since 1971 had been revived.

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2020