Criticism of envoys' visit to J&K unfounded, says Raveesh Kumar

The External Affairs Ministry on Thursday (January 9) said the objective of the visit by foreign envoys to Jammu and Kashmir was for them to see first-hand efforts to normalise the situation there and termed the criticism that it was a guided tour “unfounded”.

Spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs Raveesh Kumar said that a similar visit to Kashmir can be organised in future including by EU envoys.

The EU envoys wanted to visit Kashmir in a group and the government did not extend the invite to all, he said.

Earlier, sources from Europe had told NDTV that the envoys from Europe did not want a guided tour and that they wanted to “meet people freely of their own will”.

Also read: Envoys from EU, Australia to not take part in Centre’s 2-day tour of J&K

The team of 15 envoys, which included the US Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster, arrived in Srinagar on Thursday on a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir, the first visit by diplomats since August last year when the state’s special status was revoked and it was downsized to a union territory.

Kumar said that the visit was facilitated by the government and the envoys met security officials, political leaders, civil society groups and media.

The visit to J&K was organised considering the prevailing situation, he said.

Asked about political leaders who met the group, Kumar said the visit by the envoys to Kashmir is not yet over.

The criticism that this is a guided tour is unfounded, he added.

(With inputs from agencies)