New Delhi (Online): India is set to reject a UN request to send a team of investigators to Jammu and Kashmir following a recent uptick in unrest which is the worst in the region since 2010.
Kashmir has witnessed violent protests since the July 8 killing of a pro-independence leader, with 54 people killed and several thousand wounded in clashes with Indian security forces.
The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has asked the Indian government to allow investigators into the restive region to examine allegations of human rights violations during a heavy-handed crackdown.
But New Delhi has prepared a “carefully-worded response, noting that a visit by a UN Human Rights Council team is not required,” The Times of India reported on Monday.
The letter has touched on “several measures the Indian government has taken to restore normalcy” in Kashmir and accused Pakistan of “overt role in aggravating the situation,” the paper said.
There are an estimated 500,000 Indian troops currently deployed in the restive territory. The country has imposed a curfew across large parts of the territory since July.
On Monday, armed militants attacked police paramilitaries in Kashmir’s summer capital of Srinagar, wounding 10 people. Police said three of them were in serious condition.
The attacks came as Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered his annual Independence Day speech in New Delhi.
Police said operations were continuing against the attackers, who were holed up in a building near a police station.
The Indian army also said it had foiled an attempt by two militants to infiltrate into India from Pakistan, killing both at the de facto border between the two countries.
Modi met with leaders of different parties on Friday to discuss the recent escalation of the crisis in Kashmir but they failed to agree on sending an all-party delegation to the region for talks to calm tensions there.
