India on Friday dismissed the debate on Kashmir in the British Parliament as an attempt by "disparate individuals" trying to decide destinies of countries far away from their shore.
"We also would like to make it very clear that gone are the days when a group of disparate individuals decide the destinies of countries far away from their shore. India was confident that it can decide on all issues related to it. Therefore, we have refrained from commenting on disparate individuals who may want to articulate their views on matters which we consider to be internal to us," said External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin.
The debate in london was initiated by David Ward, who pitched for Pakistan’s cause. However, it was heavily dominated by pro-India speakers. In fact, even Ward's argument that "We (Britain) have some part to play in Kashmir," was rejected by majority of his fellow MPs.
Majority if the MPs did not take sides in the debate. The three-and-half hour debate in london ended in British Government rejecting proposals for mediation in the India-Pakistan dispute relating to it. However, the British Parliament condemned terrorism and violence in the region.
Responding for India, Barry Gardiner, a labour Party MP, termed such debate "ill-judged" and added: "Britain would be outraged if the Indian parliament debated the merits and demerits of the Scottish referendum."
Representing the UK Government's view, Gregory Barker, a former Minister, said: "There is a democratic process in place and around 61 per cent of the population participated in state elections in the region, which sits as part of the world's largest democracy. Any British insertion will be very unhelpful."