Swamy demands cancellation of EU MPs' visit to Kashmir

In an embarrassment for the government, Bharatiya Janata Party MP Subramanian Swamy, here on Monday, slammed the decision to allow a delegation of Members of European Union Parliament to visit Kashmir and demanded its cancellation.

Swamy described the move as a "perversion" of the country's policy.

"I am surprised that the MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) has arranged for European Union MPs, in their private capacity (not EU's official delegation), to visit Kashmir. This is a perversion of our national policy. I urge the government to cancel this visit because it's immoral," Swamy tweeted.

The delegation of European Parliamentarians will be travelling to J&K on Tuesday, nearly three months after the state's special status under Article 370 was abolished and it was divided into two Union Territories.

This is the first foreign delegation to visit J&K since the decision.

On Monday, the delegation met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who expressed the hope that its members, during their J&K visit, would get a "better understanding" of the region and "a clear view" of the government's development and governance priorities there.

Modi also drew the delegation's attention, albeit in a veiled manner, to Pakistan-sponsored terrorism that is hurting J&K and said urgent action was needed against those supporting terrorism and using the menace as a state policy.

He underlined the need for zero tolerance against terrorism.IANS