India Invites Foreign Diplomats To Visit Kashmir To See Ground Reality Post The Abrogation Of Article 370

With normalcy making a gradual return in the Kashmir Valley since the abrogation of Article 370 by the Indian parliament, the Government has invited a group of Ambassadors from various nations deployed in Delhi to visit the Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), reports The Hindu.

It has been reported that the Government of India has invited as many as 20 diplomats from a gamut of European, western, gulf, and other nations. The logistics of the visit would be facilitated by the Indian Army.

The Government has arranged for the diplomats to meet and engage with a host of civil society groups, journalists, sarpanchs (village heads), municipal councillors, and local businessmen during the visit to Kashmir Valley.

However, it is yet to be finalised whether the first batch will visit the region as originally planned on 9 January. It is also unclear whether all the invitees, mainly the representatives from the European Union countries will join the visit, as none of them have confirmed their acceptance to the invitation.

“The proposal [from the government] is being discussed by EU members. We have decided that our response will be a joint one, common to us all,” said one of the diplomats.

The development also gains significance as the foreign diplomats had been barred from visiting UT of J&K since the Parliament decided to strip away Article 370 and bisect the erstwhile State J&K into two separate UTs.