A report by the European Parliament on Jammu and Kashmir, suggesting the appointment of an EU rapporteur on Kashmir and tripartite talks to resolve the contentious issue, has New Delhi up in arms.
So upset was the foreign office that external affairs minister K. Natwar Singh personally made a demarche to the EU's high representative Javier Solana. Sources said Singh spoke to Solana over the phone and lodged a strong protest over the report. Describing it as "biased", Singh told his EU counterpart that such reports harmed Indo-EU ties.
The report was compiled by a delegation of European Parliament members led by John Cushnahan, following their visit to J&K and PoK.
"The EU report is not helpful for Indo-EU bilateral relations and it is not sensitive to our democratic process in J&K," Singh reportedly told his EU interlocutors.
New Delhi wanted to convey in strong terms that it won’t tolerate any interference and that the democratic elections in the state have proved the Kashmiris' faith in the Indian democracy.
Sources said South Block discovered the contents of the report recently. Singh then reportedly pulled up the Indian envoy in Brussels over his failure to report the matter to the MEA.
{{/usCountry}}Sources said South Block discovered the contents of the report recently. Singh then reportedly pulled up the Indian envoy in Brussels over his failure to report the matter to the MEA.
{{/usCountry}}The report recommends the appointment of a rapporteur by the EU to initiate a direct dialogue with Kashmiris and asks India to allow tripartite talks besides allowing the UN Military Observer Group on Kashmir to conduct inspections on the LoC.
India’s stand is that it sees no role for the UNMOGIP.