NEW DELHI : Indian opposition leaders including former Congress president Rahul Gandhi were barred from leaving the airport on Saturday in Kashmir, where local authorities had warned that their visit could stoke heightened tension in the region.
The Jammu and Kashmir government said late on Friday political leaders had been asked not to visit Srinagar as the administration works to restore order after weeks of protests against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Aug. 5 decision to withdraw autonomy for the state.
Rejecting the warning, the delegation of opposition leaders from parties including Congress, the Communist Party and the All India Trinamool Congress said they wanted to assess the situation in the valley, and flew from New Delhi on Saturday.
“If the situation is normal then why is the government restricting us from entering the valley. On the one hand the government says that things are normal and on the other they impose entry restrictions, why so many contradictions?” senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters before departing.
When their plane arrived in Srinagar, the politicians were not allowed to leave the airport and were sent back within a few hours.
Earlier in the day, senior officials told Reuters the administration in Kashmir had booked a return flight to New Delhi for the opposition leaders to prevent them from leaving the airport.
Tension remains high in Kashmir, with security forces using tear gas against stone-throwing protesters in Srinagar on Friday, after a third straight week of protests in the restive Soura district despite the imposition of tight restrictions.
The valley has been under lockdown since Modi’s decision to withdraw special rights for the Muslim-majority state.
It was the second time that senior opposition figures were denied entry to the state since the prime minister’s Aug. 5 announcement. Communist party leaders were stopped at the Srinagar airport during their first visit.
Indian opposition leaders denied entry to Kashmir, sent back from airport
Indian opposition leaders denied entry to Kashmir, sent back from airport
- Delegation of opposition leaders from Congress, Communist Party, All India Trinamool Congress said they wanted to assess situation in Kashmir
- If things are normal why is government restricting us from entering the valley, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said
Pakistan making diplomatic efforts to de-escalate Middle East tensions, FM says
- The statement came as Iran pressed on with a third day of strikes in the Gulf in response to US-Israeli air raids
- Pakistan’s position is clear that all countries must abide by principles of UN Charter, international law, FM says
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is making diplomatic efforts to de-escalate heightened tensions in the Middle East, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Monday, amid US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Tehran’s counterstrikes against US bases in Gulf countries.
Tensions escalated across the Middle East on Saturday after coordinated US-Israel strikes killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei among other senior Iranian officials. Tehran responded by targeting US military bases in the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan. Saudi Arabia said Iran also launched attacks targeting Riyadh and the Eastern Province.
The Iranian missile and drone strikes continued on Monday in retaliation for the ongoing US-Israeli air raids, casting uncertainty over the future of the Islamic republic and heightening the risk of broader instability in the already volatile region.
Speaking at a press conference, FM Dar, who recently returned from Saudi Arabia where he attended an Organization of Islamic Cooperation OIC) meeting on Palestine, said Pakistan is very closely monitoring the evolving situation in Iran and the tensions which are building up in the region.
“These serious developments have taken place at a time when diplomatic efforts were underway to reach a peaceful and negotiated solution to [Iran nuclear program],” he said.
“We are making our full diplomatic efforts and, you know, requesting all parties to de-escalate and to refrain.”
Dar said Islamabad was concerned over a violation of the norms and international law, and the age-old tradition that the heads of state and the government should not be targeted.
“Post-World War II, we all know that these institutions were created to create some international, you know, law and order, and that’s why there was a UN Charter. There are certain conventions which we all are supposed to follow,” he said.
“But things are on ground moving very differently, which obviously is worrisome... The international law must prevail and the conventions must be respected.”
The statement came hours after the Ras Tanura oil refinery in Saudi Arabia sustained limited damage as a result of debris from the interception of two drones in its vicinity, the Saudi Press Agency reported, citing an official source at the Saudi Ministry of Energy.
Several American warplanes crashed in Kuwait on Monday morning but their crew survived, Kuwait’s defense ministry said, as Iran pressed on with a third day of strikes in the Gulf.
Dar said Pakistan’s position has been clear and persistent that all countries must abide by the principles of UN Charter and international law, including respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other states as well as international humanitarian law.
“In my latest conversation with [Iranian] Foreign Minister Abbas Araqshi on 28th of February, I conveyed Pakistan’s condemnation of the attacks and called for restraint and diplomacy and dialogue, which he positively responded,” he shared.
“But on ground, we are seeing that things are not yet settling or easing out.”
Pakistan stands in full solidarity with all its brotherly countries and underscores the need to exercise maximum restraint, according to FM Dar.
“This is a message we have been giving to whosoever prime minister speaks, whosoever I speak, or whosoever Field Marshal Asim Munir speaks to, his counterparts on the defense side,” he said.
