India denies US senator permission to visit occupied Kashmir

'If Indian govt has nothing to hide then they should not worry about people visiting Kashmir'

US Senator Chris Van Hollen has been denied permission to visit Occupied Jammu and Kashmir during his trip to India as Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government’s clampdown in the Muslim-majority region enters its third month.

According to the Washington Post, Van Hollen, a Democrat senator who represents Maryland, said he had asked to go to IOK so he could see the reality on the ground for himself, but denied permission.

“If the Indian government has nothing to hide, they should not worry about people visiting Kashmir and witnessing the situation with their own eyes,” he said in an interview in New Delhi on Friday.

Van Hollen is one of nearly 50 members of bipartisan group of US senators who have urged President Donald Trump to immediately intervene and pursue Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lift curfew and end communication blockade in the occupied valley.



New Delhi deployed thousands of additional troops, shut down internet access and mobile phone services, detained nearly all of IOK's political leadership after revoking its decades old autonomous status in a rushed presidential decree on August 5.

As the world’s two largest democracies, India and the United States “talk a lot about our shared values,” he said. “I think this is a moment where transparency is important.”

Last month, the Democrat senator proposed an amendment to an appropriations bill that referred explicitly to the restrictions implemented by India.

While encouraging “enhanced engagement with India on issues of mutual interest,” it also noted “with concern the current humanitarian crisis in Occupied Kashmir” and called on the Indian government to restore communications and release detainees.

The amendment was adopted unanimously by the Senate Appropriations Committee, and the bill is likely to receive a full vote in the Senate in coming days.