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The Election Commission on Friday announced that foreign diplomats would be given access to polling centres in Jammu and Kashmir during the Sep-Oct assembly elections.
It has also decided to advance the poll timing to 0700-1600 hours IST (from 0800-1700 IST announced earlier).
"For a request, the Commission has issued special passes to 28 diplomats to visit the polling centres," Deputy Election Commissioner and official EC spokesman A N Jha said.
The countries that had sought these passes are US, UK, Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the representative of the European Commission, he said.
Sixteen diplomats are expected to visit the polling centres during the first phase of polling in Kupwara and Baramulla districts, 11 during the second phase, 12 during the third phase while two diplomats would be present during the fourth and final phase, Jha said.
The CEC's decision comes in the backdrop of Pakistan President Gen Pervez Musharraf expressing apprehension, at the United Nation General Assembly in New York, that elections in the state would be 'rigged'.
To remove any misgivings, during his recent New Delhi visit, US Secretary of State Colin Powell had favoured 'independent international observers' to monitor the polls to 'enhance their credibility'. The government had then promptly rejected the idea.
Around the same time, a European Union delegation had also visited J&K and had met Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah, Hurriyat Conference leaders and CPI-M leader M Y Tarigami to discuss the issue.
"This visit is important in view of the international focus on Kashmir and the forthcoming election," Michael Stenberg, the leader of the five-member team, had then said.
Besides Stenberg, who hails from Denmark, the other members of the delegation were Estatos Lozos (Greece), Michel Caillite (France), Itala Occhi (Italy) and Signi Ropika (Denmark).
The importance of the elections was further highlighted by British High Commissioner to India Rob Young who had said that 'India sees the J&K election as a test of Pakistan's intentions on the issue of cross-border terrorism'.
"India wants to see an election, which is free and fair and with the widest possible participation," he had said.
Meanwhile, the EC is making intense arrangements to ensure smooth conduct of the first phase of polling on September 16. It has deployed poll personnel in 24 assembly segments stretching over five districts and security personnel have been posted at all polling stations, Jha said.
Nearly 50 per cent of the polling staff has been brought from various states in north India, while the rest comprise J&K government employees. They are all being trained in the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs), Jha said.
Some days earlier, CEC J M Lyngdoh had visited the state and reviewed the arrangements. "They are as good as they can be," Lyngdoh had said when asked whether he was satisfied with the security arrangements.
Meanwhile, both the BJP and the Congress, on Friday, reacted strongly to Musharraf's remarks on the J&K elections at the UN General Assembly on Thursday.
"That a dictator should have the audacity to comment on elections in any part of India is laughable," BJP spokesman Arun Jaitley said.
"On one hand, Gen Musharraf is doing his best to prevent free and fair elections (in J&K) and on the other, he is lecturing on the virtues of democracy," Congress spokesman S Jaipal Reddy said.
"Gen Musharraf cannot stomach a genuine election in J&K since he is denying democracy to the people of his own country," Reddy added.
Jammu and Kashmir Elections 2002: The complete coverage
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