International
91 per cent of Kashmir open for traffic: Indian envoy tells United States
New Delhi, September 4: India’s Ambassador to the US Harsh Vardhan Shringla has said that,” 91 per cent of the Valley has been opened to normal traffic and people are freely talking to their relatives”.
“It is only 9 per cent of the Kashmir Valley that has certain (traffic) restrictions. At the same time, 26,000 landlines have been opened up in the Kashmir Valley. People can talk to their relatives, people have communication. There is no communication gap whatsoever between people in the Valley and their relatives in other parts of India and the world,” Shringla said.
In a conversation aimed at putting the facts straight about abrogation of Article 370 that ended the hilly state’s political autonomy, the Ambassador said the move was aimed at re-organising the state administratively. He noted that this was the 12th time that the Indian government had gone for an administrative reorganisation.
Shringla said the administrative reorganisation of the state had in no way impinged on the boundaries of the state of Jammu and Kashmir or the Line of Control and, therefore, is an internal matter of India.
“It was necessary given the circumstances,” he said.
With Article 370 going, Shringla said the people of J&K would now have the opportunity to get good governance, social justice and economic development. Women who were earlier discriminated against would get their due role in society through participation in grassroots-level elections, he added.
“Women were particularly discriminated against as they could not participate in grassroots-level panchayat elections. Women could not inherit property if they married a non-resident of the state while if a resident of J&K who was a man married a non-resident he could inherit property,” he said.
Shringla said a lot of funds did not percolate down to the grassroots even as the Centre transferred money to the states.
“In the last 15 years alone, the centre allocated $ 42 billion for the development of J&K but very little of this reached the grassroots level,” he stated.
“As a result, it created a moribund economy and lack of development. This discouraged investment and entrepreneurship in the state. It led to a feeling of despondency among the youth and Pakistan took advantage of this through cross-border terrorism and incitement of violence,” he said. IANS
US President Donald Trump has hinted that there “could be” some announcement by him at the mega “Howdy Modi!” event in Houston on Sunday, where he would join Prime Minister Narendra Modi in addressing the 50,000-strong Indian diaspora.
The White House on Monday announced that Trump would join Modi at the mega Houston rally on September 22 as a “special gesture” by the US President to underscore the special bond between the two countries.It is for the first time that Trump and Modi would share a stage together. The event is the third meeting between the two leaders in three months, after the G-20 summit in Japan in June and the G-7 summit in France last month.
“Could be. I have a very good relationship with Prime Minister Modi,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday aboard Air Force One on his way back from California to Washington DC. He did not elaborate.He was responding to a question if there would be any announcement when he goes to Houston for the rally with the Indian leader.
According to media reports, officials of the two countries are trying to finalise a trade deal before Modi and Trump meet in Houston.
Trade tensions between India and the US have been rising with Trump complaining that tariffs imposed by New Delhi on American products were “no longer acceptable”.
The US in June terminated India’s designation as beneficiary developing country under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) programme.
India imposed retaliatory tariffs on 28 US products, including almonds and apples from June 5, after the Trump administration revoked its preferential trade privileges.
Reacting to a record number of 50,000 Indian-Americans registering for the event, Trump said the crowd for the event had now become bigger after it was announced that he would be going there.
“He (Modi) has got a big crowd coming and I guess the crowd just got a lot bigger because they just announced–he asked, would I go, and I will go,” Trump said.
After the Houston event, Trump would travel to Ohio for an event with the visiting Australian Prime Minister.
“Then we’re stopping in Ohio on the way back and then I guess we do the United Nations the following week,” the US President said.
Trump also said that he had a great relationship with both India and Pakistan.
Modi will be visiting the US from September 21-27 for the annual session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). It is his first US trip after winning a second term as prime minister in May.
The two leaders are again scheduled to meet later in the week in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) session.
China on Tuesday said the Kashmir issue may not be a “major topic” of discussion during the planned 2nd informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping, notwithstanding the high voltage campaign by its close ally Pakistan over India revoking the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
Tension between India and Pakistan escalated after New Delhi revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status on August 5. Reacting to India’s move on Kashmir, Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties with New Delhi and expelled the Indian High Commissioner.
A senior Chinese official said it should be left to Modi and Xi on the issues they would like to discuss.
“As for Kashmir will be on the agenda, I’m not sure because this is kind of informal summit and leaders’ meeting I think better we need to give the leaders much time to discuss whatever they would like to discuss,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a media briefing here.
“For this kind of informal summit, I think it is better to leave the leaders much time to discuss whatever they would like to discuss,” she said.
Hua said Kashmir may not be a major topic of discuss between the two leaders. “I think for those things like Kashmir, I don’t think it will be a major topic occupying the talks, that is my understanding,” she said.
“But for the leaders, they will be free to talk about whatever they like,” Hua said, responding to a question.
China, the all-weather ally of Pakistan, already tried to take the Kashmir issue to the UN Security Council last month. But a closed-door meeting of the UNSC, in a snub to both Beijing and Islamabad, ended without any outcome or statement.
Brussels, Sep 17: The European Parliament is expected to hold discussions on the Kashmir issue on Tuesday, the media reported.
After India scrapped its Constitution”s Articles 370 and 35A, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, and divided the state into two union territories, Islamabad has been crying foul over New Delhi”s move and continuously trying to highlight the issue on a global level.
However, Pakistan has failed to get the international community to censure India.
The report said that in early September, the European Parliament “had debated an urgent resolution for the horrible conditions, including human rights violations, in Indian-occupied Kashmir”.
The European Union”s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, delivered a detailed policy statement on the Kashmir situation on September 17, it said. (IANS)