SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Diplomats from more than 20 countries visited Indian-controlled Kashmir on Wednesday as residents of the disputed region’s main city closed their shops and businesses in a sign of protest.
This is the third visit by a group of foreign envoys stationed in India’s capital since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government stripped Kashmir of its semi-autonomous status in August 2019 and enforced the change with a harsh crackdown that for a time included a complete communications blackout.
The diplomats were driven by Indian authorities in a motorcade amid tight security from the airport in Srinagar city to the western town of Magam, where they met officials and a select group of recently elected village councilors. Shops and businesses in Magam also shut in protest.
