Kashmir leaders to urge India’s Modi to restore region’s autonomy

Kashmir politicians to meet India PM on Thursday for the first talks since he revoked region’s special status in 2019.

Kashmiri politicians will urge Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to restore Jammu and Kashmir’s autonomy when they meet him on Thursday for the first talks since he revoked the region’s special status two years ago, party officials told Reuters news agency. New Delhi has struggled for decades to dampen secessionist sentiments in what was its only Muslim majority state, blaming neighbouring Pakistan for supporting an armed rebellion in the Himalayan region, which Islamabad denies. Reasserting New Delhi’s control in August 2019, Modi abolished Article 370 of the Constitution, ending the region’s autonomy and removing its statehood by splitting it into the federal territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Buddhist-dominated Ladakh.