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The Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, visited Jammu on Monday as part of its ongoing engagements in the Union Territory.
The committee, along with its members, held discussions with officials at the Regional Passport Office and also interacted with representatives of the Ministry of External Affairs deputed from Delhi during the visit. Speaking to reporters, Tharoor praised the role of Border Security Force (BSF) personnel in safeguarding the country and said that every citizen should have the opportunity to witness their work in the border areas. "What the BSF soldiers do for our country, keeping us safe, is truly commendable. I believe everyone should witness this firsthand. Every Indian citizen should take the opportunity to visit the border and see the work our soldiers are doing. It was a wonderful experience." He further stressed the need to strengthen tourism in Jammu and Kashmir and said the region should see normalcy and smooth functioning in all aspects. Referring to the situation in Kashmir, he said that it has been a year since Pahalgam and added that the atmosphere in the region should be conducive to smooth functioning and normalcy, allowing everything to run without disruption. "The beauty of this state is such that it attracts so many visitors; we certainly want tourism to grow and see more people coming here. It has been a year since Pahalgam. The atmosphere in Kashmir should be such that everything runs smoothly," he added. On Mata Kheer Bhawani Yatra, Tharoor said, "I have been there before, though I cannot go this time because it is a busy period for us with work..." Earlier, on June 19, the Congress MP attended a briefing session where representatives of the Ministry of External Affairs apprised members of the Parliamentary panel on India-China relations with special focus on border issues, along with recent developments in India-Pakistan relations. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri also participated in the pre-departure briefing held on Friday. On Friday, Chairperson of the Standing Committee, Shashi Tharoor, said after the meeting that they will also get briefings in Srinagar and Jammu. "This was a pre-orientation briefing because the committee is going on a tour of J-K and Ladakh Jammu, Srinagar, Leh and Kargil, and the Foreign Secretary was briefing us on both the Indo-Pakistan issue and India-China issues... We are going to the LoC lookout point in Kargil, and we will get briefings from the military on the ground there, so we got the MEA briefing here. We will get briefings in Srinagar and Jammu," he said. (ANI)
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