Question : Visit of Foreign Delegates to J&K

(a) whether foreign ambassadors belonging to 15-20 countries planned to visit the Kashmir Valley to assess the situation consequent upon removal of Article 370 in the State;

(b) if so, the details thereof along with the opinions expressed by this foreign delegation of ambassadors;

(c) whether the ambassadors from the European Union refused to be a part of the said delegation;

(d) if so, the details thereof; and

(e) the time by which the Government proposes to allow Indian delegates to visit the said State?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS
(SHRI G. KISHAN REDDY)
(a) & (b) As per report, a group of resident Heads of Missions (HoMs) from 15 countries namely Argentina, Bangladesh, Fiji, Guyana, Maldives, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Philippines, Peru, South Korea, Togo, United States and Vietnam visited Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) on 9-10 January 2020 and met civil administration, political leaders, representatives of
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LS.US.Q.NO. 1462 FOR 11.02.2020
the civil society including youth from different ethnic, religious and socio-economic communities, representatives of mainstream media from Kashmir, and the displaced Kashmiri Pandit community. The visit was organised in view of requests received from foreign Missions based in Delhi with a view to have better understanding of the situation in the UT of J&K. During their visit, the HoMs interacted freely, met different people and could see the prevailing normalcy in the UT of J&K. The HoMs welcomed the organisation of the visit and acknowledged the prevailing normalcy in UT of J&K.
(c) & (d) A select group of countries representing different geographical regions were invited for the visit in order to maintain the group size manageable and broad-based. The HoMs of some of the EU countries welcomed the initiative but regretted due to short notice. They, however, expressed interest to visit the UT of J&K at a later date.
(e) There are no restrictions on visit of any Indian citizen to the UT of J&K.
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