A group of European Parliament members on Tuesday visited India-administered Kashmir, the first foreign delegation to visit the region since New Delhi stripped it of its semi-autonomous status.
The tour was sharply criticized by Indian opposition parties who questioned how the government allowed foreign lawmakers into the area while barring Indian members of parliament from the state for over two months.
The 27-member group from 11 countries, held talks with military officials as well as civil society members to assess the ground situation in Kashmir, a day after they met Premier Narendra Modi in New Delhi.
There was a shutdown in Srinagar and at least four people were injured in clashes between protestors and security forces in the region, media reports said.
Opposition leaders also lashed out against the government for allowing the visit at a time when Kashmiri political leaders were still detained, adding the delegation mainly comprised of members of parliament from right-wing parties.
EU diplomats in New Delhi clarified that the members of parliament were not part of an official parliamentary delegation and the visit was organized in a private capacity.
The delegation is the first international representation to Kashmir since Modi's government withdrew special status from the Muslim-majority region on August 5 to exercise greater control over it and imposed heavy restrictions on movement and communications.
Most restrictions have been eased, but thousands of troops remain deployed in the region. The local economy has also taken a hit - suffering a loss of around 1.4 billion dollars.
Himalayan Kashmir, disputed by India and Pakistan has seen a separatist insurgency since the 1980s in which tens of thousands of people have been killed.
