Foreign minister S Jaishankar, who is in the United States, on Monday spoke up on the issue of scrapping of Article 370 in Kashmir as he simultaneously slammed those who have criticized the snapping of internet services in law and order situations. “The big song and dance about the internet being cut…if you’ve reached a stage where you say that an internet cut is more dangerous than loss of human lives, then what can I say?” Jaishankar asserted.
On Article 370, he further pointed out: “What was a temporary provision of the constitution was finally put to rest. This was supposed to be an act of majoritarianism. Now tell me what was happening in Kashmir, was it not majoritarianism? I think the way facts are slanted.. What is right and wrong is debated. This is actually politics at work.”
It’s been three years since the NDA-led central government had done away with the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution, which granted special provisions to Jammu and Kashmir. The state – on August 5, 2019 – was also divided into two union territories – J&K and Ladakh. The government had highlighted the move at the time as “historic”, and called it a move to “unite and integrate” India. Law and order situations in J&K, which borders Pakistan, has often been a matter of concern, which also affect the internet services.
Meanwhile, Jaishankar – in the US – has been holding a flurry of meetings. In the latest update, he shared visuals on Twitter of his meeting with US defence secretary Lloyd Austin.
“Defence and Security cooperation is a key pillar of the contemporary India-US partnership. We noted the steady progress in policy exchange, interoperability, defense trade, service exercises and military-industrial cooperation. (sic),” he tweeted.
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