Decades of Patience and An Invisible Change in Kashmir

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Abstract

On 17th February 2021, a group of 24 foreign diplomats arrived in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) for a two-day visit. The group was headed by European Union (EU) Ambassador Ugo Astuto and was comprised of envoys from various EU member states – including French envoy Emmanuel Lenain, Italian envoy Vinceno de Luca, Swedish envoy Klas Molin, Irish envoy Brendan ward, Dutch envoy Maren van den Berg and Bangladeshi envoy Mohammad Imran. Envoys from countries such as Brazil, Cuba, Estonia, Finland, Tajikistan, Portugal, Malawi, Eritrea, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Senegal, Malaysia, Bolivia, Belgium and Kyrgyzstan also accompanied the group. The tour’s primary purpose was to assess the ground situation and normalcy in J&K. The delegation visited J&K for the first time since the outbreak of covid-19 pandemic. It was the third visitor delegation to the valley since the state’s bifurcation and the removal of special status within India’s constitution. Last year two groups visited J&K – in January and February. The present delegation meeting was endorsed by the government so as to access the ground situation after the District Development Council (DDC) elections (Haider, 2021). According to reports, the valley observed a complete shutdown - and tight security measures were taken to protect the visitors during their stay (Ashiq, 2021). After these arrived in the capital city, they visited various places and met with different key stakeholders. A meeting with both the DDC and Panchayat members was scheduled on the outskirts of the city, in the Budgam district. […]