Law and order steps are temporary in Jammu and Kashmir, says Ministry

Situation will gradually return to normal, says official

August 09, 2019 09:55 pm | Updated 09:55 pm IST - NEW DELHI

New Delhi: External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar addresses a press conference, in New Delhi, Friday, Jan, 11, 2019. (PTI Photo/Vijay Verma) (PTI1_11_2019_000052B)

New Delhi: External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar addresses a press conference, in New Delhi, Friday, Jan, 11, 2019. (PTI Photo/Vijay Verma) (PTI1_11_2019_000052B)

Law and order measures in Kashmir were taken as precaution and there is already a sense of calm and normalcy, the External Affairs Ministry said on Friday.

Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said the measures taken by Pakistan after India ended the special status for Kashmir were unilateral.

“Certain precautionary measures have been taken by concerned authorities to maintain law and order. Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi in his address yesterday [Thursday] mentioned that the situation will gradually return to normal and the inconvenience experienced by people in Jammu and Kashmir is very temporary in nature. We already see a sense of calm and normalcy,” said Mr. Kumar, emphasising that food supply, operation of hospitals, newspaper circulation remains undisturbed in the state. The statement of the Indian government came after the human rights organisation Amnesty International had expressed concern over additional deployment of forces and an unprecedented communication blockade that cut off Kashmir from the rest of India.

This was accompanied by the statement from UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres who urged both countries for restraint. The spokesperson noted that Pakistan had begun an international campaign on Kashmir and accused it of trying to portray an alarmist situation.

Following, the Indian legislative action on Kashmir, Pakistan has frozen trade with India and stopped train services. Islamabad has also introduced some changes in the access of the airspace of Pakistan. The MEA Spokesperson said the decision on Kashmir was part of India’s sovereign jurisdiction and Pakistan’s responses are unilateral that India regrets.

“Samjhauta Express has been stopped. It was an unilateral decision, we never asked for the stoppage and we regret the decision by Pakistan government to stop this link between the two countries which is unfortunate,” said Mr Kumar.

He also declared that India has reached out to several countries and multilateral organisations to explain India’s position in Kashmir and argued that India does not consider that the decision on Kashmir was an internal affair of India and Pakistan’s unilateral actions on connectivity, trade and other bilateral ties should not be linked with it.

Sources hinted that India’s measured tone to Pakistan’s response on the Kashmir issue shows that New Delhi does not desire an escalation in bilateral tension and that India hopes to find appreciation of Islamabad regarding its decision to end special status on Kashmir.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.