Brussels (Belgium): In a massive blow to Pakistan, several ministers of European Parliament (MEPs) have called out the Islamic nation for providing "sanctuary" to terrorists and for promoting terrorism across LoC in India.
During a session- 'Situation in Kashmir' on Tuesday, the MEPs termed the revocation of Article 370, which accorded special status to people of Jammu and Kashmir, an internal matter of New Delhi and urged European Union to respect the "sovereignty of India".
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European Conservatives and Reformists Group's Geoffrey Van Orden said that Pakistan has allowed its special services to support "suppression and terrorism" across the Line of Control (LoC) since its inception. He also said that Islamabad has illegally occupied the parts of Jammu and Kashmir.
"Kashmir is one of the most beautiful parts of India. For the last 70 years, it had an unsettled status and had been under threat by externally sponsored terrorism and extremism. At last, there is an opportunity to rectify this situation. Legally, the whole territory should have been part of India. But instead, it was invaded and partly occupied by Pakistan which then allowed its special services to support suppression and terrorism costing thousands of lives across the LoC," he said.
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He said that after the historical changes by India, people of Jammu and Kashmir would receive equal rights as the rest of the country.
"Under temporary article 370 of India Constitution people lived under the different locally imposed rules. Now the change brought in by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will give the same rights to people of Kashmir as those in the rest of India. We should look at what is happening in Pakistan if we want to see abuse of rights of woman religious minorities and transgender people," Orden said.
Terming Pakistan a source of nuclear proliferation, the British MP said, "It has given sanctuary to terrorist organisations and leaders, and it promotes terrorism across LoC into India."
Orden also called for constructive dialogue between India and Pakistan to resolve the dispute.