The European Union delegation, which visited Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday to assess the ground situation after the abrogation of Article 370, said it “fully supports India in its efforts for lasting peace and end of terror”.
The members of the EU delegation added that they were not in Kashmir to interfere in India’s politics.
The remarks were made after the delegation came under heavy criticism as it emerged that several of them belonged to right-wing parties in Italy, France and Germany. In all, 22 of the 27 members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are right-wing politicians in their respective countries. All of them are visiting India in their private capacity.
A united opposition of the Congress, PDP, and NC have slammed the Centre for rolling out red carpet to the EU MPs.
The opposition has questioned how foreign MPs were allowed to visit the restive region when the politicians of the country have been denied the opportunity.
This is the first foreign delegation to visit the restive region after the Centre withdrew Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and bifurcated the state into two Union Territories (UTs) on August 5.
After the tour ended with a boat ride in Dal Lake, one of the EU MPs said, “We, the international delegation, fully support India in its efforts for lasting peace and end of terror… We thank the Indian government and the local administration for their warm hospitality”.
“We are Indian citizens and we want to be Indian like all other Indian citizens… we want to have development like other parts of the country, locals told us,” another lawmaker said, according to NDTV.
The MEPs further said that politics is an internal issue but terror is a universal problem and added that they fully support India in its efforts to end terror.
Meanwhile, one of the MPs, Nicolaus Fest, has said that the Centre must allow leaders from the opposition in the country to visit Kashmir as well since it has let the European Union parliamentarians to assess the situation.
“I think if you let in European Union parliamentarians, you should also let in opposition politicians from India. So there is some kind of disbalance, the government should somehow address it,” Fest told news agency ANI.
The Congress has targeted the Government saying it has internationalised the Kashmir issue.
The MEPs, who first checked into at a five-star hotel on their arrival, were taken to the Army’s 15 Corps headquarters at Badami Bagh where top army commanders briefed them about the situation in Kashmir.
The delegation then met and interacted with members of the Janata Dal-United and the Bharatiya Janata Party, representatives of panches and the sarpanches from the Valley, as well as some of the newly-elected Block Development Commission members.
Meanwhile, the visit triggered violence in Kashmir.
Incidents of stone-pelting and clashes were reported from several areas in Srinagar including Chanpora, Rambagh, Maisuma and others, leaving six people reportedly injured.
Shops and businesses remained closed and even private transport was playing less than routine in view of heightened tension.
In some areas, youths had blocked the road to prevent the movement of traffic.