Scrapping Article 370 India's internal matter: UAE

NEW DELHI: The UAE on Tuesday defended India's decision to remove Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, saying it is an internal matter of New Delhi and is aimed at "reducing regional disparity and improving efficiency".

"The reorganisation of states is not a unique incident in the history of independent India & that it was mainly aimed at reducing regional disparity and improving efficiency. It is an internal matter as stipulated by the Indian Constitution," said Dr Ahmad Al Banna, the UAE ambassador to India.

The UAE is a member state of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The envoy's statement has come ahead of the OIC members' meet, which is meeting today to discuss recent developments in Jammu and Kashmir.

The UAE ambassador also said that his country has taken note of India's decision of removing Article 370, Gulf News reported.

Acting on the request by Pakistan, a founding member of the OIC, the international organisation of Islamic countries, in a series of tweets on Sunday showed a 'deep concern' over the escalating tension between the two countries along the Line of Control.