Ministry of External Affairs says the issue should not be pursued further
NEW DELHI: Ambassador to the United States Ronen Sen has offered “sincere and unqualified apology” in response to a privilege notice given by the Lok Sabha over his purported remarks equating MPs to “headless chicken[s],” sources have said .
Mr. Sen was given the notice after members from most of the non-Congress parties slammed him for his reported “derogatory” remark in connection with the controversy over India-U.S. civil nuclear deal. The Ambassador had given “clarifications” over the remarks attributed to him along with the apology, the sources said.
Many of them demanded the Ambassador’s immediate recall and his presentation before the Bar of the House so that he could be reprimanded.
“Treat as closed”
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has also given its response to the notice, suggesting that the matter be treated as closed. The MEA has said that the issue should not be pursued further as Mr. Sen has already apologised, sources said.
After the report appeared in a newspaper here last Monday, the MPs were agitated and disrupted proceedings in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
In view of the members’ concern, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the remarks, if reported correctly, were “unwarranted and unacceptable.”
Remark
Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee also said that he would take action as Parliament was not helpless. Mr. Sen immediately issued a statement saying that his remark about “headless chicken[s]” was about mediapersons and not MPs. — PTI
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