London: A European Union MP was allegedly uninvited from visiting Kashmir after he expressed the desire to “travel freely, unaccompanied”.
Chris Davies, Member of the European Parliament for North West England, was a part of the group of EU MPs who were invited to visit Kashmir to see the situation on the ground.
Davies was invited by a Women’s Economic and Social Think Tank (WESTT)to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 28 and then continue his journey to Kashmir ending with a press conference on the October 30 but was uninvited the day after the invitation was extended.
Responding to India Today’s TV email query, Chris Davies said, “On October 8, I told WESTT that I was happy to accept the invitation on the condition that during my time in Kashmir, I would be free to go wherever I wish, and talk to whoever I wish, unaccompanied by military, police or security forces but accompanied by journalists.”
He further said that he was told that flight and accommodation costs will be paid by the ‘International Institute for Non-Aligned Studies’.
Chris Davies said that his invite to Kashmir was eventually cancelled on the October 10 and has not been contacted since.
He told India Today TV that he was not aware of the organisations before he was contacted for the trip.
(India Today TV)
