Published 18:10 IST, January 9th 2020
Envoys praise government on Kashmir security situation after visit to the valley
The 15 members strong delegation which began it's two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir are delighted with the manner in which India has handled the situation
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In a massive diplomatic outreach, 15 foreign envoys visited Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) on Thursday to get a first-hand understanding of the ground situation. The group primarily comprise envoys from Latin American and African countries. The first meeting was with security officials to understand the prevailing security situation in the region and the threat posed by terrorism in the Union Territory. The group of envoys also met civil officers and interacted with the local media and political leaders. The group of envoy will now proceed to Jammu where they will be interacting with Lt.Governor GC Murmu.
Republic TV has learnt that the envoys have praised the government for handling the situation on the ground after the historic decision of abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35A. As they took stock of the current situation, the envoys agreed there were some difficulties faced by the people of J&K but it was necessary to maintain law and order.
In an interaction with the locals, they blamed Pakistan for the killings in J&K and asked envoys to put pressure on Pakistan. The envoys were told by the locals that not an inch would be given to Pakistan. The envoys witnessed open shops, traffic, and people on the streets of Srinagar. Locals also reiterated that they came forward spontaneously to meet the envoys and were looking forward to the future without interference from Pakistan.
According to the government, envoys based here had requested to visit Kashmir which also included the European Union as they too wanted to visit but the invitation was not sent to all. The government maintains that the objective for the envoys was to see the effort made by government to normalize the situation and see how things have progressed and normalcy restored after abrogation of Article 370.
The European Union countries are understood to have conveyed that they will visit the Union Territory on a different date. The government maintains that necessary arrangements can be made at a later stage. They also added that the envoys of several countries had requested the government for a visit to Kashmir to get a first-hand account of the situation prevailing in the Valley.
This will be the second visit of a foreign delegation to Kashmir since August 5 last year. A delegation of 23 EU MPs was earlier taken on a two-day visit to assess the situation in the Union Territory. But the government then had dubbed this as a private visit. Earlier, India had reached out to P5 countries putting forward its perspective on its decision to abrogate Article 370.
18:10 IST, January 9th 2020