GUWAHATI, Feb 14: Senior Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, facing accusations from the BJP on his wife’s alleged links with the ISI, on Friday asserted that the Youth Forum on Foreign Policy (YFFP), an organisation he started in 2011, had interacted with diplomats from many countries, and not just Pakistan.
Gogoi made the statement a day after Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, without naming the Congress leader, said that members of the YFFP interacted with the Pakistani High Commissioner to India in 2015 to discuss India-Pakistan relations.
In his Facebook post, the deputy leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha also did not make any reference to the attack launched against him by the BJP over the activities of the YFFP since its formation.
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“The photograph with former Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit during a panel discussion which has been circulated by some brought back memories of 2011 when I along with a few friends had set up the YFFP. The idea to set up such a forum had first come to my mind while I was an intern at the Indian mission in New York in 2010,” the Jorhat MP said in the Facebook post written in Assamese.
The Forum was aimed to provide a platform for students and young professionals to discuss foreign policy and international affairs, he said.
Various BJP politicians had also participated in dialogues initiated by the Forum, primarily to help students of political science and UPSC aspirants discuss foreign policy matters with experts, Gogoi claimed.
“The YFFP had organised discussions with diplomats and envoys and the exchange of ideas had greatly helped in enhancing the knowledge of students,” he said.
The Forum had interactions with former foreign secretary Shyam Saran, former US ambassador Richard Verma, former British High Commissioner James Bevan, and other retired diplomats, Members of Parliament and ambassadors of the Netherlands, Singapore, Israel, Australia, Thailand, and Pakistan among others, Gogoi said.
The year 2011 was very ‘encouraging for us as we were able to set up branches of the Forum with college students and young professionals in Delhi, Guwahati, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chandigarh,’ the Congress leader said.
“The visit of Nobel laureate economist Joseph E Stiglitz to Guwahati in 2012 on our invitation is memorable for me personally,” he added.
The MP claimed that since 2014 when he became an MP for the first time, his work with the Forum has declined considerably and his role is now limited to that of an advisor.
“It is, however, heartening to note that a group of brilliant youth have taken over the leadership and are continuing with research and fellowship programmes. My interest in foreign policy, however, continues,” he said.
Referring to the meeting with the former Pakistan ambassador, Gogoi said that there were several amusing anecdotes which included discussions not only on cricket but also arguments related to which country’s ‘kebabs’ were more delicious.
Gogoi posted a series of photographs of events of the Forum and said that there are many familiar faces which include former BJP minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, BJP MP Baijayant Panda, entrepreneur Nandan Nilekani, Gauhati University Vice Chancellor Nani Gopal Mahanta, journalist Wasbir Hussain, among others.
The Congress MP ended the post with ‘Don’t underestimate the intelligence of the Assamese people’.
The chief minister, reacting to the post, said, ‘The Hon’ble MP has shared pictures of esteemed individuals to suggest that they, too, were invited to his meetings. However, these meetings cannot be equated with his meeting with the Pakistan High Commissioner and the subsequent parliamentary questions that followed’.
But, he questioned, if the meeting with the Pakistan High Commissioner was held with the consent of the central government.
“Did the Hon’ble MP debrief the Home Ministry or the Ministry of External Affairs after the meeting? Attempts to divert public accountability by sharing unrelated photographs of intellectuals and prominent citizens will not change the core issue,” Sarma posted on X.
The chief minister on Thursday had levelled a series of allegations that the MP had raised questions in Parliament on sensitive defence matters after his marriage to a British citizen, a charge termed by the opposition leader as a “false accusation”.
“In 2015, the Pakistani High Commissioner to India, Mr Abdul Basit, invited a first-term Member of Parliament (MP) and his startup, Policy for Youth, to discuss India-Pakistan relations at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi,” Sarma had claimed in a post on X without naming Gogoi.
The chief minister claimed that the visit occurred “despite India’s official protest against the Pakistani High Commission’s interference in internal matters, particularly its involvement with the Hurriyat Conference”.
Sarma’s comment came a day after the BJP had accused Gogoi’s wife of having links with Pakistan and the ISI.
The deputy opposition leader in the Lok Sabha on Thursday rejected the allegation as “laughable and entertaining”. (PTI)
