Srinagar: US Ambassador to India Kenneth I Juster along with envoys from 15 other countries arrived here on a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, the first visit by diplomats since the abrogation of the erstwhile state's special status in August last year.
The Delhi-based envoys arrived here by a special chartered flight at Srinagar's technical airport where top officials from the newly carved out union territory received them, officials said.
Later in the day, they would be going to Jammu, the winter capital of the newly created Union Territory, for an overnight stay. They will meet Lt Governor G C Murmu as well as civil society members, they said.
Besides the US, the delegation includes diplomats from Vietnam, South Korea, Niger, Nigeria, Morocco, Guyana, Argentina, Philippines, Norway, Maldives, Fiji, Togo, Bangladesh and Peru.
Sources said the envoys of several countries had requested the government for a visit to Kashmir to get a first-hand account of the situation prevailing in the Valley following the abrogation of provisions of Article 370 in August.
The European Union countries, however, are understood to have conveyed that they will visit the Union Territory on a different date and are also believed to have stressed on meeting three former chief ministers — Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti — who are in detention. Government sources said these envoys will undertake a visit at a later date.
Quoting government sources, a report stated that some EU Ambassadors didn't want to be part of the group of envoys visiting Kashmir as they felt "certain restrictions in the programme were unfounded and mischievous". Earlier it was reported that certain European envoys were not keen on a "guided tour" of the region and rather wanted to meet the people and interact with them.
Reacting to the development, the Congress accused the government of adopting double standards by resorting to "guided tours" to Jammu and Kashmir for foreign envoys, but not allowing Indian politicians to go there.
"Government adopting double standards by allowing foreign envoys to visit J&K, but not Indian politicians," senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said at a press conference. "We demand that the government allows unfettered access to J&K to all politicians and not resort to guided tours for envoys," he said. The Congress wants meaningful political activities in J-K, Ramesh said.
(With PTI inputs)
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