Delegation Of Ambassadors From 15-20 Countries To India To Visit J-K Soon

A delegation of ambassadors from 15-20 countries, including those from the Gulf region, is scheduled to visit Jammu and Kashmir soon to be briefed on the security situation in the union territory, officials said on Tuesday. They also said efforts were on to rope in some ambassadors of the P5 countries like the US, the UK, France and Russia but confirmation is awaited.

Around 15 to 20 envoys to India will be taken to the Kashmir valley later this week where they will be briefed by security agencies about the involvement of Pakistan in spreading militancy in the state, the officials said.

On the same day, they will be taken to Jammu where they would meet Lt Governor GC Murmu and other officials before returning to the national capital the next day, they added.

The sources said the envoys of a number of countries requested the government for a visit to Kashmir to get a first hand account of the situation prevailing in the valley following the abrogation of provisions of Article 370 there.

The envoys to be taken to Kashmir are expected to represent various important regions, including Europe, Africa, Central Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. The move will be part of India's diplomatic outreach to rebut Pakistan's propaganda against it on the Kashmir issue.

India had reached out to the P5 countries and all the world capitals, putting forward its perspective on its decision to abrogate Article 370 and bifurcation of the state into two Union territories.

After India announced its decision to reorganise J&K on August 5 last year, Pakistan reacted angrily to the move and mounted a major diplomatic offensive against New Delhi on the issue. Pakistan has also downgraded diplomatic ties by expelling the Indian envoy.

This will the second visit of a foreign delegation to Kashmir since August 5, 2019, the day when the Centre withdrew special status of the state and also bifurcated it into two union territories -- Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir.

Earlier, a delegation of 23 EU MPs was taken on a two-day visit to assess the situation in the union territory by International Institute for Nonaligned Studies, a Delhi-based think tank.

However, the government had distanced itself from the visit of the delegation and Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy informed Parliament that the European parliamentarians were on a "private visit".