Article 370 abrogation India's internal decision for its citizens' welfare: Naidu to Canadian speaker

The abrogation of Article 370 provisions is an "internal administrative decision" concerning the welfare of Indian citizens and carried out in strict compliance with constitutional provisions and with overwhelming majority in both Houses of Parliament, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu told Canadian senate speaker George J Furey here on Thursday.

Welcoming Furey to India, Naidu shared his happiness at the excellent bilateral parliamentary ties between the two countries, the vice president's secretariat said in an official statement.

When the leader of the visiting delegation sought to know his views on developments in Jammu and Kashmir, Naidu said Article 370 was inserted as a temporary provision and being a border region it shares international boundary with Pakistan and China, separatism was sponsored in the region, fanned and taken advantage of by outsiders.

Underlining that Article 370 was inserted as a temporary provision in the constitution, Naidu noted "deletion of Article 370 is an internal administrative decision concerning the welfare of Indian citizens and carried out in strict compliance with Constitutional provisions and with overwhelming majority in both the Houses of Parliament."