Prime Minister Narendra Modi has justified the move taken byhis government to abrogate Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir. In an interview with Khaleej Times, Prime Minister Modi said thatthe government took the decision in a “completely democratic, open, transparentand Constitutional manner”.Terming the move by the central government as“internal steps”, Prime Minister Modi said that the development was “designed to end the isolation” of Jammu and Kashmir. The Prime Minister further saidthat it was the special status of the region that kept Jammu and Kashmir underdeveloped.

Responding to the question on abrogation of Article 370, thePrime Minister said that it served “the vested interests of a few”. He saidthat it was because of the “isolation” of the region that youth were misguidedand even radicalised by anti-India elements.“This isolation also allowed someof the youth to be misguided, get radicalised and take to violence andterrorism,” said Prime Minister Modi.

Modi said that India could not afford to let the isolationgain further “foothold in our harmonious society and distract us from theprimary tasks of growth and development of the entire country”.

The Prime Minister arrived in Abu Dhabi in the United ArabEmirates (UAE) late on Friday on a two-day visit. During the visit, the PrimeMinister is slated to receive the highest civil decoration of the UAE, Order ofZayed, which was conferred on him earlier in April 2019

The move by Prime Minister Modi-led central government toabrogate Article 370 amid unprecedented security cover in Jammu and Kashmir hastriggered attacks by opposition members. Following days of allegations andcounter-allegations, opposition leaders, including former Congress presidentRahul Gandhi, are visiting Srinagar on Saturday.

Opposition leaders including Ghulam Nabi Azad, SitaramYechuri, D Raja, Manoj Jha, Anand Sharma, D Kupendra Reddy, Majeed Memon, KCVenugopal, Tiruchi Siva, Sharad Yadav, and Dinesh Trivedi will be part of thedelegation.