J&K rights issues have to be settled in India only: EU

The issues of alleged human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir should be settled by Indian institutions, the European Union said in remarks that come against the backdrop of Pakistan’s repeated attempts to internationalise the Kashmir conflict. The EU, however, chided India for blocking foreign funding to several NGOs.

Chairperson of the European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee, David McAllister, said the panel was working on a report on the EU’s political ties with India.

According to news agency reports, Mr McAllister, leading a delegation of the European Parliament to India, called the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir a “very sensitive” issue, saying India suffered a lot from terrorism.

“The reports of human rights violations have to be settled by India’s domestic institutions,” the head of

the powerful committee said.

Referring to the Indian government refusing to renew the foreign funding licences of around 20,000 NGOs, a top committee member, Preda Cristian Dan, said the crackdown on NGOs dealing with human rights issues was unacceptable.