Abrogation of Art 370 brought progress to Kashmir: Congress leader

New Delhi: Former External Affairs Minister and Congress leader Salman Khurshid said that the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, has brought progress there and has ended a serious problem that had been bothering for a long time. Salman Khurshid made the remarks at a meeting with academics during his visit to Indonesia as part of an Indian delegation to explain Operation Sindoor.

This is when his own party, the Congress, itself opposes the abrogation of the article that granted the erstwhile state special status.

The leader claimed that there was a serious problem in Kashmir for a long time, and there was a perception in the valley that they were separate from the rest of the country. That problem ended with the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, which led to development in the region, Salman Khurshid claimed.

He noted that 65 per cent of voting was recorded in the elections after the abrogation of Article 370, and an elected government was also formed in the Union Territory. Then he cited the Pahalgam attack and said that attempts are being made to undo the development there.

Salman Khurshid arrived in Indonesia with a multi-party delegation led by Janata Dal (United) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha.

Meanwhile, Shashi Tharoor, who is leading the Indian delegation for global diplomatic outreach, raised questions in Bogotá over the Colombian government’s stance during India-Pakistan tension, The Indian Express reported. Citing Colombia’s offering of ‘heartfelt condolences over the loss of lives in Pakistan’ following India’s Operation Sindoor, the Thiruvananthapuram MP said ‘no equivalence’ was possible between those who ‘dispatch terrorists and those who resist them’.