By IANS,
Srinagar : The European Union (EU) delegation visiting Kashmir Friday met Muhammad Yasin Malik, chairman of the pro-independence Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) here and discussed the situation in the state.
The delegation, comprising EU Ambassador to India Daniele Smadja, Irish Ambassador Kenneth Thompson, Belgian Ambassador Pierre Vaesan, EU delegation’s First Secretary Philipp Gross and delegation attache Anne Vaugier-Chatterjee met Malik at his Maisuma residence.
Smadja told Malik that the EU delegation had planned a visit to Kashmir last September-October, but could not come because “the situation was not very conducive here”.
Malik told reporters after the meeting that they had discussed the Kashmir situation.
“EU is a very powerful union of European countries. We told them the EU countries are friends of both India and Pakistan and they must use this friendship to have the Kashmir dispute resolved for permanent and lasting peace in the region,” he said.
The EU delegation was also to meet Miwaiz Umer Farooq, chairman of the moderate Hurriyat group, at his Nigeen residence on the city’s outskirts.
The EU delegation met Chief Minister Omar Abdullah soon after its arrival here Thursday.