India will look into possibilities of more visits from foreign dignitaries to Kashmir if the occasion so demands, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday. Official spokesperson of the MEA Raveesh Kumar said the Members of European Parliament who visited Kashmir this week got a sense of the threat that terrorists pose to India.
“We will definitely look at such requests. It should however be kept in mind that what will be the deciding factor will be the intent, content and the ground situation before a decision is taken on such visits,” said Mr. Kumar when asked if the government would encourage more such visits to dispel growing global concern.
The spokesperson said the the MEPs who visited Kashmir wanted to know India’s concerns on terrorism and said, “They very clearly reflected that they got some understanding about the ground situation. They got a sense of the threat that terrorism poses to India in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.” He however did not clarify about which Ministry or outfit within the government had invited private lobbyist Madi Sharma to coordinate the visit of the MEPs.
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He also argued that sharing India’s perspective did not amount to internationalising the Kashmir issue. “Engagement with the diplomatic community is not internationalising the issue,” said Mr. Kumar when asked if the visit of the MEPs meant India ceded ground due to growing pressure.
“Such exchanges promote people to people contact and as part of this we have engaged and continue to do so with members of civil society, Parliament and media and so on.”