EU delegation's J&K visit not a picnic; They know it, India knows it

Members from European Parliament will visit Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) on Tuesday. y are going in ir personal, t professional capacity. Anybody with an iota of kwledge about diplomacy and statecraft kws two are inseparable. It is a European Union (EU) delegation for all practical purposes. government of India will take m on a guided tour wanting to show m what New Delhi wants m to see. EU members will also play game, seeing what y want to see even if parameters are hemmed in. What does this mean beyond a new kind of confidence and conversation India is seeking to create? 
 
Let me explain. One of first stories I did when I arrived in Geneva was to get a briefing with an international aid organisation preparing for a prison visit in a war-torn country in Middle East. delegation included usual suspects, but interestingly eugh one medical doctor (re were three in team) and an architect were only identified as team members.

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It was explained to me that all countries hide ir prisoners in special parts of prisons that escape people t trained to “re“ full dimensions of a building once y are in it. Architects can tell a false de end moment y spot one and I was shown pictures of how this is done. In fact, se architects can take a mind picture of full dimensions of a building even before entering it. unidentified doctor in team was a psychiatrist who could identify behaviour changes resulting from long periods of imprisonment while declared doctors would examine obvious wounds separating between those that are war-related and ors that are result of torture. 

I share this to make point that members of EU visiting J&K are t going on a picnic. y kw exactly what y are being used for and even more than that y kw what to look for. This doesn’t make m extra-intelligent. It just makes m differently alert to st-mand performances. Maybe some of m have a security background, maybe some come from a civil and political rights training and some maybe spooks. And let us t for a moment forget that some of m are masters of propaganda and hide and seek and can tell a false te even before it is struck.

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India has me its stand on terrorism clear, most recently at G20 in France where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Emmanuel Macron vowed to fight ISIS/Daesh with renewed vigour and cooperation. EU team is t looking for terrorists behind cupboards and under carpets – y have such attacks at home. Few have any idea of what terrorism looks like in India as infamous Anglo Saxon five y re or listen to just called Abu Bakr al-Baghdi an “…austere scholar.”  
 
It is important to remember that India tres with many EU countries separately and also with EU as a bloc. Business abhors terrorism and very fact that visitors are going to a troubled area during a very troubled moment in world history is a signature of confidence. Among guests are original colonisers and two nuclear-weapon states. y will debrief mselves as a team, EU and also ir hequarters individually. Democracies understand pulls and pushes of democracies. All this sounds simple, but it is t. 

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It is t simple because world is passing through a tumultuous period finer points of which are missed by countries t used to nuance. United States (US) gets first prize for looking at all issues in a black and white frame and fighting all its wars thousands of miles away from its shores. Relations between US and EU have never been as b as y are in recent months including in tre or arms control (NATO), human rights and environment. 
 
US has eliminated al-Baghdi but that in way signals end of terror in region and beyond. That “beyond” includes a medley of Russia, Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan – all countries with which India and EU have independent and sometimes connected relationships and land connectivity is only one of issues. Think China. Think Russia and China. Think Eurasia and role India can play in this new blueprint. 

Perhaps most important India is seeking to occupy is mind- in a region surrounded by dictators and warlords. Context is important in most settings, but in diplomacy it is fairly critical. Context influences policy as much as langu influences thinking. 

visitors will come to J&K armed with ir own sets of lenses. India will provide context and hopefully, new langu. A lot of diplomacy takes place in silence. Like that architect who can take one look at a de end and insist to go beyond. 

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At time of writing, re’s news that a section of Anglo Saxon media (re Washington and London) is seeking permission to visit some areas of J&K. If I h my way, I’d grant m permission immediately. Some of m like Washington Post will write ridiculous obits (e.g. Baghdi) while ors may do a better job and yet ors bring stories one knew existed. re will be professional ambulance chasers and propagandists, but re will also be Indian media for whom J&K is t just ar exotic story fighting for helines on a Tuesday evening. 
 
Democracy is an article of faith and media is its first port of call. EU recognises democracy in ways US cant because ir histories are different. Continent is more nuanced about democracy and human rights because it has arrived at that spot after thousands of years of war and negotiations. Peace in Europe is a hard-earned place and ecomic prosperity is one of main reasons Continent stands toger after having fought bloodiest wars in human history. Maybe EU delegation will be informed by some of ir own history when y visit J&K. 
 
India today stands at a critical juncture and symbolism of EU visit to one of its most troubled spots cant be missed. It is important to maintain conversation, however long and difficult that may be because at stake is incent lives, democracy and ecomic progress – basic tenets of Narendra Modi government.