Congress Slams BJP Over EU Delegates Visit To J&K

The Congress on Wednesday slammed the NationalDemocratic Alliance government at the Centre over the visit of a delegation ofEuropean Union parliamentarians to Jammu and Kashmir calling it a 'diplomaticblunder' and the gravest sin of the government.

Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said thatIndia's long-standing policy has been that Kashmir is an internal issue. Modi governmenthas committed the gravest sin of reversing this policy. The BJP government hasinsulted India's Parliament, said Surjewala.

Surjewala's attack comes a day after severalopposition leaders hit out at the government on Monday for facilitating thetravel of a delegation of lawmakers of the European Union to Jammu and Kashmir,while the region remained out of bounds for most Indian leaders.

Surjewala also questioned the credentials of the thinktank that facilitated the EU parliamentarians' Srinagar visit saying: "Thedelagation was brought by a nondescript think tank with questionablecredentials to meet the Prime Minister, visit Kashmir and hold a pressbriefing."

The Congress spokesperson alleged that by introducinga third party to assess the ground situation in Kashmir, PM Modi had caused anaffront to India's sovereign right over the state.