EU delegates endorse India’s stand after visiting Jammu-Kashmir -

Srinagar: The members of the European Union (EU) parliament stood in support of India and said, ‘Jammu Kashmir is an integral part of India although the problem of terrorism it faces is not limited to India but is a global crisis. The international community needs to stand with India and against terrorism to address the issue.’ At the same time, the EU parliamentarians expressed sympathy for the truck drivers, who were killed by the terrorists and strongly condemned the incident.

The Indian military had taken action to teach Pakistan military a lesson and had destroyed their posts in PoK. However, to demonstrate that Pakistan had not suffered any damage, they had arranged for a tour of foreign diplomats and journalists at the Line of Control. The Pakistani military spokesman had challenged India to take an international delegation to Jammu-Kashmir for an independent assessment if they had the guts.

After that, a large delegation of EU parliamentarians arrived in Jammu-Kashmir. The delegation first met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and after that assessed the situation in the region. After that, they declared the situation in the area was peaceful. The EU delegation even endorsed the Indian stand saying Kashmir was India’s internal affair. Even so, the EU delegates underscored that terrorism was not a problem limited to India. Additionally, they delivered a major jolt to Pakistan by saying that they were standing with India as it was fighting against terrorism.

Some people had criticised the delegation’s visit stating that bringing the EU delegation for a visit to Jammu-Kashmir amounted to the globalisation of the issue. Nevertheless, Thierry Mariani, from France, said that the visit of the EU delegation was not an interference in India’s internal matters. Terrorists can destroy a country. I have visited Afghanistan and Syria previously and seen for myself the kind of destruction terrorism can cause. Therefore, we are with India in this battle against terrorism,’ Mariani clarified.

On the other hand, EU parliamentarian Henry Malosse informed that he had held discussions with the Kashmir Police, the heads of the village administration and social workers during the visit.