New Delhi, November 20
The Centre today claimed that the European parliamentarians who recently visited Kashmir were on a “private visit” to India on an invitation by a Delhi-based non-governmental think tank.
Responding to a written question in Rajya Sabha, Union Minister of State Home G Kishan Reddy said, “The Jammu and Kashmir government has reported that a group of 27 European parliamentarians, who belonged to different political parties, paid a private visit to India from October 28 to November 1 on the invitation of the International Institute for Non-aligned Studies, a Delhi-based think tank.”
He, however, intimated the House that an Indian delegation of MPs was not allowed to visit Kashmir due to security concerns.
Opposition parties had attacked the government over the EU delegation’s Kashmir tour after Indian politicians and MPs were not allowed to travel to the Valley in the aftermath of the abrogation of Article 370.
Reddy was responding to questions that sought to know which institution organised and bore the expenses of the Kashmir tour and whether it was working as a coordinating institution for the Centre.
On an earlier occasion, even the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had said it was not involved and had not coordinated the visit. — TNS
from The Tribune https://ift.tt/2QF9xhN
via Today’s News Headlines
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