Very good and eye-opening: Afghan ambassador on two-day visit to J-K

Afghanistan Envoy Tahir Qadri, who was a part of second batch of 25 foreign envoys who visited Jammu and Kashmir, on Friday said that the visit was a good experience and that the diplomats got the opportunity to speak to people from civil society and senior military officials.

"It was really good. For the 25 envoys, it was a very good opportunity to go there and see the Valley for themselves, to talk to people. During the two-days time that we had, we spoke to groups of people from the civil society, journalists, traders and businesswoman and also locals, politicians, the government local officials and senior officers from military units. Its always good to have the first account of the situation there. So it was very good and eye-opening," he said while speaking to ANI after meeting National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

"For us, going and talking to people, it was a good experience. A lot of good voices from the people, especially young people that I spoke to...they have good aspirations for the future," the Afghan Ambassador said.

Delegation of 25 foreign envoys, which undertook a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir met National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval at Hyderabad House.

The foreign envoys, including those from Germany, France and Mexico, were on a visit to the newly-formed Union Territory to witness the ground situation in the region six months after the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution.

The group comprised representatives from Afghanistan, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, the European Union, France, Germany, Republic of Guinea, Hungary, Italy, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Namibia, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Rwanda, Slovakia, Tajikistan, Uganda and Uzbekistan.

German Ambassador Walter J Lindner after meeting the NSA said: "We exchanged our experiences from our visits to Jammu and Kashmir. I think it was also done last time when the first group went to Jammu and Kashmir. It was a good meeting.