EU panel, slated to visit Kashmir tomorrow, meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and NSA Ajit Doval in Delhi

European Union delegates met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval in Delhi on Monday ahead of their visit to Kashmir on Tuesday to take stock of the situation in the Valley after the abrogation of articles 370 and 35A.

#WATCH Delhi: Members of European Parliament called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg today. The delegation would be visiting Jammu and Kashmir tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/X4YQEjerLs

— ANI (@ANI) October 28, 2019

Modi, meeting the 28-member panel, said he hopes the visit is ‘very fruitful’. He further added that their visit to Jammu and Kashmir should give them a ‘better understanding of the cultural and religious diversity of the region’ along with giving them a clear view about the development and governance priorities of the region. The prime minister appreciated the importance the parliamentarians gave their relationship with India  and stated: “Early conclusion of a fair and balanced Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) is a priority for my government.”

PMO: PM expressed hope they have fruitful visit to various parts of country, including to J&K.Their visit to J&K should give delegation better understanding of cultural&religious diversity of region; apart from giving a clear view of development&governance priorities of region https://t.co/8ga7FkaNB1

— ANI (@ANI) October 28, 2019

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He was further quoted by ANI as saying, “Urgent action must be taken against all those who support or sponsor terrorists or support such activities and organisations or use terrorism as a State policy. There should be zero tolerance for terrorism." This will be the first international team to visit Kashmir since the abrogation of articles 35A and 370.  ANI reported that Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu will meet the delegation today as well. Mehbooba Mufti, the former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, who was detained, took to Twitter, and said she hopes the delegation “gets a chance to speak to the people, local media, doctors and civil society members”. She added that the ‘iron curtain’ must be lifted.

Hope they get a chance to speak to the people, local media, doctors and civil society members. The iron curtain between Kashmir & the world needs to be lifted and GOI must be held accountable for pushing J&K into turmoil https://t.co/okZkVUK8Jz

— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) October 28, 2019

Former Union minister Subramanian Swamy slammed the visit, and claimed that he was surprised the Ministry of External Affairs arranged for such a meet in their private capacity. He urged the government to cancel the visit, and stated, “This is a perversion of our national policy.” The visit is said to be a part of an outreach programme to let an international team see for themselves that normalcy exists in the Valley and that several restrictions—which were imposed after the abrogation of the articles—have been eased. However, last month, a US Senator who wished to see Kashmir first-hand  was denied permission by the government. The Indian Express quoted Chris Van Hollen the junior Senator from Maryland, as saying, “I wanted to visit Kashmir to see first-hand what was happening, but was not allowed by the Indian government. We had approached the government about a week ago, but were told it was not the right time to go there.” This comes amid repeated statements by India that Kashmir is an internal matter and that no third-party mediation is required, and that the Centre’s move is constitutional. The abrogation of articles 370 and 35A occurred on 5 August.