On Tuesday evening, 17 September, MEPs called for an end to violence and restrictions in Kashmir.
During a plenary debate, several of them denounced India's revocation of Kashmir's autonomous status on 5 August. Constant human rights violations, arbitrary arrests of several thousand people, blocking of the media, curfews, access banned for NGOs and journalists, presence of more than one million soldiers in the region... there are many areas of concern.
“The situation is very clearly alarming and even unacceptable (...) the fact that two nuclear powers are in a head-on conflict is worrying”, Traian Basescu (Romania) stressed on behalf of the EPP.
While some MEPs accused India, others attacked Pakistan, according to Shaffaq Mohammed (Renew Europe), a British citizen born in Kashmir, “the situation will not improve if you point an accusing finger at one side or the other”.
Mr Mohammed, like several of his colleagues, called for active EU participation in dialogue between India and Pakistan. “The situation can only be resolved if the parties are around the table, with the help of the EU”, he said, explaining that although it is up to the Kashmiris to decide their future, the EU must advocate for fundamental rights.
“The EU must contribute to the resolution of the conflict. It will not be able to solve the problems, only the parties will. We can only be part of the process as mediator”, explained Bernhard Zimniok (ID, Germany). According to the Chair of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights, Maria Arena (S&D, Belgium), the EU must support the UN's approach to the dialogue between India and Pakistan and exert its full weight on India for the return of Kashmir's autonomous status. “The EU must advocate for an international, independent and transparent investigation into the violence in Kashmir”, she added.
On behalf of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Finnish Presidency of the Council of the EU recalled the European position. “We encourage India and Pakistan to seek a peaceful and political solution, respectful of the interests of the Kashmiri population on both sides of the Line of Control. This remains the only way to solve a long-lasting dispute that for too long has caused instability and insecurity in the region”, said Tytti Tuppurainen, Finland's Minister for European Affairs. She urged the lifting of the remaining temporary restrictions, ensuring freedom of movement, restoring the means of communication and maintaining the rights and fundamental freedoms of the Kashmiri population. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)