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Questions grow over NGO’s invite to MEPs
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- The Members of European Parliament (MEPs) visiting India were promised a “prestigious VIP meeting” with PM Narendra Modi, and the NGO that organised the visit claimed that he wanted to meet them as “influential decisionmakers from the European Union”, invitations accessed by The Hindu show
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- Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had clarified that the “MEA is not involved and not coordinating the visit.
- Meeting with Mr. Modi, Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu and meals hosted by National Security Adviser’s office and the MEA, raised questions about the manner in which the delegation, the first foreign group to visit the Kashmir Valley since August 5, was organised.
- Invitation went out to more than 30 MEPs from Brussels-based British PIO Madi Sharma, who accompanied the MEPs delegation, said that she ran a non-governmental organisation called WESTT (Women’s Economic and Social Think Tank), although her link to the government and to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) are unclear.
- Invitation also Mentioned the three day visit would include
(1) meetings with Mr. Modi and senior officials,
(2) a visit to Kashmir,
(3) and a press conference on Wednesday.
- All expenses for the visit (flight and accommodations) would be sponsored by the Delhi-based International Institute for NonAligned Studies (IINS), PIO claimed.
- Two MEPs from the UK-based Liberal Democrat Party (LDP) claimed that they were “disinvited” from the India visit after they asked for unfettered access to local Kashmiris and journalists during the visit.
- Also It is unclear on whose behalf Ms. Sharma was able to guarantee security, nor is it clear why the government and the MEA, which regularly organise visits of foreign parliamentarians to India, did not undertake the organisation itself.
Sources
The Hindu