China''s foreign ministry said it showed a "principled" stand on "unilateral" actions taken by India in a meeting between the two countries'' top diplomats on Monday. Senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi said he hoped India would play a constructive role in regional peace and stability, China''s foreign ministry said in a notice on its website following the meeting.
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told Wang India was willing to exercise restraint and improve its relationship with Pakistan, the ministry added. India''s Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar repeated his government''s stance in Beijing on Monday, after meetings with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.
But Wang warned the contentious move would "change the status quo of the Kashmir dispute and cause regional tension". "China opposes any unilateral actions that complicate the situation," he added.
Meanwhile, Indian troops clamped tight restrictions on mosques across occupied Kashmir for Monday''s Eid-ul-Azha over protest fears The Himalayan region''s biggest mosque, the Jama Masjid, was ordered shut and people were only allowed to pray in smaller local mosques so that no big crowds could gather, witnesses said.
"Eid celebrations were peaceful today," occupied Kashmir police chief Dilbagh Singh said late Monday. "There was a stray protest in occupied Srinagar but nothing major," he told AFP. Regional inspector general of police Swayam Prakash Pani added that there were "only a couple of injuries" reported, adding: "Otherwise, the entire valley - the situation is normal."
Internet and phone communications have been cut and tens of thousands of troop reinforcements have flooded the main city of occupied Srinagar and other towns and villages in the occupied Kashmir Valley. "I can''t believe we are forced to be in our homes on this festival. This is the festival of joy and happiness," resident Shanawaz Shah told AFP.
A petition against the lockdown filed by a political activist will be heard in the Supreme Court on Tuesday. Meanwhile, global human rights activists and personalities - including Man Booker Prize-winning author Arundhati Roy, an outspoken critic of Modi - signed an open letter to the Indian leader calling for an end to the lockdown.
"We strongly believe that for India to be able to continue to define itself as a democracy, it must allow public discourse and debate on these issues," the letter published Monday said. "This certainly cannot be achieved by blocking communications, detaining political leaders and civil society activists, and restricting movements within occupied Jammu & Kashmir."
- Too afraid to celebrate - Residents said the security crackdown had made them too fearful to celebrate. A sheep trader at a occupied Srinagar market, who gave his name as Maqbool, said the number of people buying animals for traditional feasts was sharply lower and he had gone from "huge profits" last year to a "big loss" this time. Several thousand people took part in one rally after Friday prayers that was broken up with tear gas and shotgun pellets, residents said. But authorities denied there was any protest.
Comments
Comments are closed.