Congress scraps lunch in light of tragedy

New Delhi: As a mark of respect to several deceased CRPF soldiers who perished in the terror bomb attack in Pulwama, the Congress late on Thursday night cancelled a scheduled lunch that was to take place on Friday in which Congress President Rahul Gandhi was to interact with envoys of the G20 countries as well as some of India’s neighbouring countries.

“In this moment of grief, we have cancelled the scheduled luncheon meeting,” Congress sources said.

The meeting on Friday was being seen as an opportunity for foreign envoys to know the views of Mr Gandhi on various issues. Foreign envoys were also expected to seek clarifications on any issue that may be of interest to their country.

 Pakistan had not been invited to the luncheon meeting. But several other envoys including the Chinese and French ambassadors had been expected to attend.

The G20 has been described as a “premier international forum for global economic cooperation”, with some estimates of “G20 members accounting for 86 per cent of the world economy, 78 per cent of global trade, and two-thirds of the world’s population, incl-uding more than half of the world's poor”.  

It comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, United States and the European Union.

Envoys of neighbouring countries such as Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka were also exp-ected to attend the meet.

Sources said the interaction was initially planned between the Congress president and envoys of the G-20 countries only but that later some of the neighbouring countries (who were not a part of G-20) expected a desire to attend too.

Friday’s meeting was being seen as significant,, given that the Congress is the main opposition party in the country.