EU envoys spurn ‘guided tour’ of Indian Kashmir

The envoys wanted to meet three ex-CMs

Visit was a govt attempt to give impression that life has returned to normal

The European Union refused to take part in a rare diplomatic visit to Indian Kashmir that started yesterday because they will not be allowed to meet detained local politicians, reports said.

The two-day foreign diplomatic trip is the first since New Delhi stripped the restive Himalayan region of its autonomy and sent in tens of thousands of extra troops in August.

The security lockdown and communications blackout, still only partially lifted, has drawn international criticism including in Brussels and Washington.

“EU envoys don’t want a guided tour of Kashmir. We want to meet people freely of our own choosing,” the NDTV news channel quoted one European diplomatic source as saying.

In particular they wanted to meet three former chief ministers, Farooq and Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, who are still locked up, daily newspaper The Hindu reported. The three have been under house arrest or kept at a government residence since August.

Critics said that visit was a government’s attempt to give the impression that life has returned to normal.

The foreign ministry said that envoys from 15 countries -- including the United States, South Korea, Nigeria and Argentina -- would take part in the visit to the region, which is also claimed by Pakistan.

A diplomatic source told AFP that the EU, which has been pressing for months to access to some of those detained, was still keen to go at a later date.

“The EU is interested in going and continues to be engaged with the MEA (ministry of external affairs) on timing and elements of the trip,” the source said.

Other Indian newspapers quoted government sources as saying that the EU baulked because the visit was at short notice and since it was not possible for all the bloc’s ambassadors to take part.