India pushes ‘wrong narrative’ with foreign diplomats’ Kashmir visit amid elections: analysts

As Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) goes through assembly elections after a decade-long hiatus, a foreign delegation’s visit to the disputed Himalayan region has sparked strong criticism from regional political parties, accusing New Delhi of pushing a “wrong narrative”.

Observers believe the visit aims to portray a misleading account of the region since losing its special status in August 2019.

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs on Wednesday took a delegation of diplomats from 16 countries to different polling stations in Srinagar city – the summer capital of J&K- to witness phase 2 of the ongoing polling process of the J&K assembly election.

“It is a good chance to see a sub-national-level elections and obviously with Kashmir’s history, it is exciting to see elections here after 10 years or more,” US deputy Chief of the Mission in Delhi, Jorgan K Andrews told media at one of the polling stations in the Srinagar city.