Far-right Euro MPs lead landmark trip to occupied Kashmir

Published October 28, 2019
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi poses for a picture with a delegation of members of the European Parliament after their meeting in New Delhi, India, October 28, 2019. — Reuters
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi poses for a picture with a delegation of members of the European Parliament after their meeting in New Delhi, India, October 28, 2019. — Reuters

Nearly 30 Euro MPs, drawn mainly from extreme right-wing parties, will on Tuesday be the first international delegation to visit India-occupied Kashmir since authorities imposed a security clampdown in August to back the ending of the region's autonomy.

While the Indian government backs the visit, the European parliament and European Union hierarchy have not been involved, raising some diplomatic doubts.

Several European embassies in New Delhi were unaware of the visit until Monday.

Muslim-majority occupied Kashmir, in the grip of an uprising for 30 years, has been in the international spotlight since the New Delhi government's move to tighten its grip on the Himalayan region.

“The delegation of MEPs is not on an official visit in India and came here at the invitation of a non-government group,” said an EU official in India, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“We are not organising any of their meetings.”

The group is dominated by right-wing deputies from Poland, France and Britain. They met India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday.

They are due to go to occupied Kashmir on Tuesday and return on Wednesday from the visit which the Indian government said aims to give deputies “a better understanding of the cultural and religious diversity of the region of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh”.

Fearing unrest, the government cut telephone and internet lines and imposed a near curfew in many parts after the decades-old autonomy was ended.

The measures were recently eased, with telephone lines restored, but the population still has no internet.

Thierry Mariani, a Euro MP for France's far-right National Rally, told AFP “we are going to see the situation in Kashmir, at least what they want to show us”.

Opinion

Editorial

Ties with Tehran
Updated 24 Apr, 2024

Ties with Tehran

Tomorrow, if ties between Washington and Beijing nosedive, and the US asks Pakistan to reconsider CPEC, will we comply?
Working together
24 Apr, 2024

Working together

PAKISTAN’S democracy seems adrift, and no one understands this better than our politicians. The system has gone...
Farmers’ anxiety
24 Apr, 2024

Farmers’ anxiety

WHEAT prices in Punjab have plummeted far below the minimum support price owing to a bumper harvest, reckless...
By-election trends
Updated 23 Apr, 2024

By-election trends

Unless the culture of violence and rigging is rooted out, the credibility of the electoral process in Pakistan will continue to remain under a cloud.
Privatising PIA
23 Apr, 2024

Privatising PIA

FINANCE Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb’s reaffirmation that the process of disinvestment of the loss-making national...
Suffering in captivity
23 Apr, 2024

Suffering in captivity

YET another animal — a lioness — is critically ill at the Karachi Zoo. The feline, emaciated and barely able to...