A security vehicle escort the cavalcade of ambassadors in Srinagar
SRINAGAR/NEW DELHI, Jan 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A delegation of 16 New Delhi-based envoys and other senior diplomats on Thursday began a two-day visit to Srinagar and Jammu for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation in Kashmir in the backdrop of New Delhi stripping the erstwhile state of its special status and splitting it up into two Union territories.
The delegation, which includes US ambassador to India Kenneth Juster, is touring J&K at the invitation of the external affairs ministry, which said they wanted to see firsthand the efforts by the government to normalise the situation in the UT.
The other envoys and senior diplomats who are part of the delegation are from South Korea, Brazil, Bangladesh, Peru, Argentina, Niger, Nigeria, Uzbekistan, Morocco, Vietnam, the Philippines, Norway and the Maldives.
During their day-long stay in Srinagar, the envoys met security officials, political leaders, civil society groups, artistes and the media, officials said.
In the evening, they flew into the UT’s winter capital Jammu, where they met lieutenant-governor Girish Chander Murmu, his advisers and senior officials over dinner.
On the second leg of their trip, the team will meet leaders and representatives of various political parties, social organisations, civil society groups and media persons. They will also visit the Jagti migrant camp of displaced Kashmiri Pandits before flying back to New Delhi.
Soon after their arrival in Srinagar in a chartered plane, the delegation was briefed by the Army’s Chinar Corps commander, Lt. Gen. Kanwal Jeet Singh Dhillon, at the Badami Bagh cantonment on the overall security situation in the hinterland and along the Line of Control, cross-border “terrorism” and “frequent ceasefire violations” by Pakistani troops.
The MEA said the envoys’ visit was organised given the prevailing situation in J&K.
A report from Delhi said European Union ambassadors were not a part of the group due to certain restrictions. But officials said this was “unfounded and mischievous”.
The MEA said the EU envoys wanted to visit Kashmir in a group but “we did not extend an invite to all”. It said the envoys’ visit to J&K was not over, adding “similar visits to Kashmir can be organised in future, including by EU envoys”.
It is more than five months after the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcating J&K that the government invited the first group of New Delhi-based diplomats to travel to Srinagar and Jammu. — NNN-AGENCIES