J&K is India’s internal matter: UAE

The UAE said it has taken note of the Indian government’s decision to abrogate Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir and added that it was an internal matter of India aimed at improving efficiency.

Ahmad Al Banna, UAE’s Ambassador to India, said he had taken note of the Indian government’s “decision of nonoperationalisation of some sections of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution related to Jammu and Kashmir”.

“We also took note of the introduction of Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill in the Indian Parliament aimed at replacing Article 370 with the creation of Ladakh region and the state of Jammu and Kashmir as India’s two new Union Territories.”

He said that from his understanding, “the reorganisation of states is not a unique incident in the history of independent India and that it was mainly aimed at reducing regional disparity and improving efficiency”. Al Banna said the latest decision related to the state of Jammu and Kashmir is “an internal matter, as stipulated by the Indian Constitution”.