Foreign envoys recent trip to J-K important step: Senior US diplomat Alice Wells

The United State's Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Alice Wells has said that they were closely following the visit of 15 foreign envoys, including US Ambassadors trip to Jammu and Kashmir and it was an important step.

"Closely following @USAmbIndia and other foreign diplomats' recent trip to Jammu & Kashmir. Important step", US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Alice Wells said on Twitter.

She also added that they look forward to normalcy returning in the region.

"We remain concerned by the detention of political leaders and residents, and Internet restrictions. We look forward to a return to normalcy," she added.

In first such trip by foreign diplomats post-August 5, envoys of 15 countries, including the US, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Maldives, Morocco, Fiji, Norway, Philippines, Argentina, visited the Valley on Thursday where they interacted with select political representatives, civil society members, Kashmiri Pandits, and administration officials, with the Indian government rejecting criticism that it was a "guided tour".

Earlier on Friday, Philippines ambassador to India Ramon Bagatsing Jr, who was part of the delegation that went to the Valley on a two-day visit, said the visit was informative and eye-opener and there was normalcy in Srinagar "the way it was before August 5".

Niger Ambassador to India Leko Ado, who was also part of the delegation, has said that he is optimistic after the trip that the situation in the newly-formed Union territory will improve with time.

Ahead of announcing the decision to abolish Article 370 from the Union Territory, the central government had deployed additional troops in order to curtail any possibility of untoward incident. The government had also temporarily suspended mobile internet in Jammu in view of the security situation in the region which later resumed.