The 28-member delegation of the European parliamentarians landed in Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) on Tuesday to assess the ground situation in the erstwhile state, two days before the region will officially be bifurcated into Union territories. According to reports, the Government of India gave the permission for the "unofficial" visit, for which the European parliamentarians are here on their private capacity.

The parliamentarians visited Dal Lake in Srinagar today after being briefed by officials in Srinagar.

Jammu and Kashmir: The delegation of European Union (EU) MPs visited Dal lake in Srinagar today. pic.twitter.com/TRt0k4PDeX October 29, 2019

DNA India provides the schedule for the visit by the European parliamentarians in J&K. The parliamentarians met a group of sarpanches or the heads of the village-level constitutional bodies.

After they landed in Srinagar at 12 noon on Tuesday, the parliamentarians were briefed by security forces in the 15 Corps headquarters in Srinagar. According to sources, they were first briefed by the Commander of the 15 Corps Lt Gen Dhillon, following which they met police and security officials.

Sources: In the meeting with European Union MPs at 15 Corps Headquarters, security forces including Army, briefed them including the role of Pakistan in fuelling terrorism in the Kashmir valley and the role of Pakistani Army in pushing terrorists into India. https://t.co/VmddJZKGym October 29, 2019

The parliamentarians then visited the Dal Lake where they are scheduled to meet and talk to civilians present at the location. They will also interact with members of civil society and youth activists. This will be followed by a meeting with the Governor, Satya Pal Malik, and officials of the civil administration. A formal dinner has been organised for the purpose.

On October 30, i.e. tomorrow, the delegation will meet with local media and news agencies in the morning, followed by an interaction with some prominent personalities of the state. After having done all of this, the delegation is scheduled to fly back to Europe.

This is the first-ever international delegation to visit the valley after the abrogation of Article 370. However, they are travelling in their private capacity and not as part of an official EU delegation.

The visit by the members of the European Parliament comes at a time when the Centre is making efforts to restore normalcy in the region. With this move, the government is looking to spread the word of the normalcy of the region in the international sphere, where a number of Western media outlets have criticised India's actions in the wake of the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution.