Effort to mislead global community: Pakistan on visit of foreign envoys to J&K

Ahead of the planned visit of the third batch of foreign envoys to Jammu and Kashmir this week, Pakistan on Monday sought to portray the move as an effort by India to mislead the world community.

The external affairs ministry is taking a group of ambassadors and senior diplomats, mainly from European countries, to the Kashmir Valley and Jammu as a continuation of the process that began early last year and was disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, people familiar with developments said on condition of anonymity.

The envoys are expected to be in the Kashmir Valley on February 17, before travelling to Jammu the following day. As with the two groups of envoys that visited the region in January and February 2020, the third batch is expected to interact with grassroots political leaders, members of civil society groups and businessmen.

In a statement issued in Islamabad, Pakistan’s Foreign Office described the planned visit by the diplomats as part of India’s efforts to “mislead the world community”.

“Such guided tours are a smokescreen, aimed at diverting international attention from India’s egregious human rights violations in [Jammu and Kashmir] and creating a false impression of ‘normalcy’,” the statement said.

There was no immediate response from Indian officials to the statement.

The visit is being arranged less than two weeks after the government restored 4G mobile internet services in the union territory. The services were snapped and other restrictions were imposed when the government scrapped Jammu and Kashmir’s special status in August 2019 and split the erstwhile state into two union territories.

The restrictions have been gradually eased over the past year.

Pakistan has opposed India’s actions in Jammu and Kashmir, which took bilateral ties to a fresh low. Islamabad asked the Indian envoy to leave and decided not to post a high commissioner in New Delhi. The Indian side spurned a recent offer of friendship from the Pakistan Army chief, saying talks can’t be held without the creation of an atmosphere free of terror and violence by Pakistan.

The Pakistan Foreign Office’s statement also called for foreign diplomats to be given access to all areas and to be allowed to freely interact with Kashmiri people, civil society and the senior Hurriyat leadership. It also called for India to allow the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN observers and international media to visit Jammu and Kashmir.

In the past, India has described such moves by Pakistan as interference in its internal affairs and rejected them.