The visit by European Union MPs to Kashmir was not at all internationalisation of the issue and such delegations do not necessarily have to come through official channels, the ministry of external affairs said Thursday.
IMAGE: Members of European Union Parliamentary delegation during a boat ride at Dal Lake in Srinagar. Photograph: S. Irfan/PTI Photo
In its first comments on the issue, the ministry also said the important point was whether such an engagement serves larger national interests.
In the first visit by a foreign delegation, a team of 23 MEPs travelled to Kashmir on Tuesday on a two-day trip to have a first-hand assessment of the situation after the state’s special status was revoked in August by abrogating provisions of Article 370.
“We feel that such exchanges are part of people-to-people contacts,” MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.
The visit was not at all internationalisation of Kashmir issue, he added.
Kumar also asserted that the views of MEPs reflected their understanding of ground realities and threat of terrorism in Kashmir.
The visit of the MEPs to Kashmir was not ceding of ground on Kashmir, he said.
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