External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who is on a 10-day visit to the United States, on Monday responded to the issue of scrapping Article 370 in Kashmir and addressed the internet services being impacted in the region. “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?” said Jaishankar on the issue, as reported by ANI
Jaishankar blamed politics for misinterpretation of the issue saying, “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.”
Jaishankar insisted on shaping the right narrative on the J&K issue. “We should not let it go. We should contest it. We should educate. We should shape the narrative. This is a competitive world. We need to get our messages out. That is my message to you,” the minister said, according to ANI.
“We are not serving our country well or our beliefs well, or even our sense of what is right and wrong but by staying out of these debates. I think we have opinions we must express them we must share it with people, we must educate others on what is right and what is wrong”.
“I honestly believe that if you look at the whole 370 the Jammu and Kashmir situation, to me it’s mind boggling. Something whose merits were so obvious, should actually there even be people who would think different way,” Jaishankar said.
The NDA-led government removed the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution, which granted special provisions to Jammu and Kashmir three years back. On August 5, 2019, the state was 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.
The law and order situation in J&K has always remained a cause of concern affecting the internet services.
Meanwhile, Jaishankar - in the US - has been holding a slew of meetings. The foreign minister updated about 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.