Article 370 India’s internal matter: EU MPs in J&K

The 23-member delegation also condemned the killing of five labourers from West Bengal by militants in Kulgam district.

“If we talk about Article 370, it is India’s internal matter. What concerns us is terrorism, which is a global menace and we should stand with India in fighting it. There was an unfortunate incident of the killing of five innocent labourers by terrorists. We condemn it,” said Henri Maloose from France.

The members of the European Union’s unofficial delegation in Dal lake Srinagar on Tuesday.
Express photo by Shuaib Masoodi 29-10-2019

Maloose, a former president of European Economic and Social Committee, said the team got a briefing from the Army and police as well as young activists and exchanged “ideas of peace”.

Nicolaus Fest, from the right-wing Alternative for Germany, told journalists separately that the government should address the “imbalance” of European parliamentarians being allowed to visit but India’s opposition MPs being refused permission.

Several of the 23 MPs belong to right and far-right parties.

MEP from Poland Ryszard Czarnecki said the international media coverage on Kashmir seems biased. “Once we go back to our countries we will inform them of what we saw,” the Prawo i Sprawiedliwosc party leader said.

European MPs at Dal Lake in Srinagar on Tuesday. (Express Photo: Shuaib Masoodi)

Newton Dunn from the Liberal Democrat party in the UK described the visit as an “eye-opener”.

“We belong to a place Europe which is peaceful after years of fighting. And we want to see India becoming the most peaceful country in the world. And for that we need to stand by India in its fight against global terrorism,” he told reporters.

“By calling us fascists, our image has been tarnished. It’s better that one should know about us properly before tarnishing our image,” said Thierry Mariani, a member of the Rassemblement National party in France. —With PTI Inputs