- The European Parliament supports India on J&K.
- Says Pakistan an “ambiguous country.”
- Warns against escalation of hostilities between India and Pakistan
New Delhi: A day after China signaled that the Jammu and Kashmir issue “may not be a major topic” during President Xi Jinping’s Summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi near Chennai next month, the European Parliament has also backed India, with some members remarking that Pakistan is an “ambiguous country”.
At its General Assembly meeting in Strasbourg, France, the European Parliament stood with India on Tuesday, in what was yet another severe setback to Pakistan which is trying to somehow, somewhere get support to its claims of alleged human rights violations in J&K.
European Parliament (EP) is the legislative wing of the European Union, which is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.
A majority of the members in EP, according to reports here, supported India while terming Pakistan as an “ambiguous country.” The EP clearly said that J&K is an entirely bilateral issue between the two neighbours and there was no possibility of a third-party mediation. It also warned against any escalation of hostilities in J&K.
It asserted that Brussels has no role in it.
According to reports, India’s major supporting members were Spain’s Javi Lopez, France’s Julie Lechanteux, Poland’s Ryszard Czarnecki, UK’s Dinesh Dhamija, and France’s Gilles Leberton.
Apart from extending India their support, the members also stated that Pakistan is a “perpetrator of terror”. They recalled that terrorist attacks on India’s J&K are coming from Pakistan. The EP stated that it will monitor and make efforts to avoid escalation.
Applauding India’s democracy, the members also recalled that New Delhi had recently scrapped the Triple Talaq, thus protecting the human rights of Muslim women.
This is the second time since 2008 that the EP’s General Assembly has discussed the J&K issue. It mainly focused on debating the steps taken by the Indian Parliament to abrogate the Article 370 and also debated the ongoing communication blockade in the Kashmir Valley.
Final remarks on the debate will be decided by Finland as it holds the current presidency in the EP.
