New Delhi (NVI): The visit by 24 foreign envoys to Jammu and Kashmir was to enable them to witness the ground situation, prevailing normalcy in the Union Territory, ongoing democratic process and J&K’s march on the path of inclusive development, following the conduct of recent DDC polls, the Ministry of External Affairs has said.
“The idea behind facilitating these visits was to enable foreign Heads of Missions to get a better sense of the ground situation and the prevailing normalcy in the Union Territory. Subsequently, there has been an enhanced interest in the ongoing political and democratic process, including strengthening of grassroot democracy in J&K,” External Affairs Ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said in a statement issued yesterday.
“The present visit by the third group of foreign Heads of Missions, is in this context, to allow foreign envoys to witness, first-hand, J&K’s march on the path of inclusive development and the dynamism in the grass-root democratic institutions in J&K following the successful conduct of the recent local-level elections,” he said.
Pertinent to mention here, that the foreign delegation completed its two-day visit to J&K yesterday. The group of 24 foreign Heads of Missions based in New Delhi visited the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir on 17-18 February 2021.
Srivastava said that prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, two groups of resident Heads of Missions had visited J&K in January and February 2020.
“As regards their detailed programme of the visit, the group of envoys visited Srinagar, Budgam and Jammu during the two days. Yesterday, the group visited Magam in Budgam District of Central Kashmir and participated in ‘Block Diwas’ a grass-root level democratic outreach initiative organized regularly by the local administration in J&K, as part of efforts to promote good governance,” the MEA spokesman said.
The interaction at the Block Diwas event provided the envoys an opportunity to hear directly from the general public and local level people’s representatives on the functioning of empowered grass root democratic institutions, devolution of power and developmental activities, he added.
“In Srinagar, they had a very fruitful interaction with the elected representatives of the Urban Local Bodies, District Development Councils (DDC) and the Block Development Councils (BDC) from all the districts of Kashmir Division representing various regional and national political parties. The group also visited the famous Hazratbal Shrine, the holiest and most revered mosque in Srinagar frequented by scores of locals for mass prayers,” Srivastava said.
He added that both in Srinagar and Jammu, the group interacted with representatives from civil society, including youth from different ethnic, religious and socio-economic communities, local business and political leaders, civil administration and representatives of mainstream media.
“Today, the group of envoys visited the Chinar Corps headquarter in Srinagar where they received a briefing on the prevailing security situation, including external threats, in J&K and on the initiatives of J&K police relating to community policing and engagement,” he added while referring to the group’s visit to Srinagar headquartered Chinar corps yesterday.
Thereafter, they travelled to Jammu and met the Chief Justice of the UT of J&K and Ladakh, the Lt Governor of J&K, other senior officials and members of the civil society, he said.
“During the interaction, Chief Justice highlighted the role played by the Judiciary in enhancing access to the legal system for the common people in J&K including to preserve rule of law and protect rights of the people. The Lt Governor shared the vision of peace, progress and prosperity for J&K, apart from highlighting key people-centric development projects that are underway and also planned in J&K,” the Ministry spokesperson said.
The visiting envoys were also made aware of New Industrial Policy of J&K and were invited to take part in the economic growth and development of the Union Territory, he added.
-ARK
