Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday made his first official visit to Kashmir’s main city since New Delhi stripped the disputed region of semi-autonomy and took direct control of it in 2019.
Addressing a crowd at a soccer stadium in Srinagar, Modi announced development projects and noted that previous governments had misled people about the region’s now scrapped special status.
“The success story of Jammu and Kashmir will be the center of attraction for the world,” he told the crowd, asserting that the region has prospered since the 2019 measure. “I have always said that the hard work I do is to win your hearts. I will work to win your hearts even more.”
Modi and his party have accused pro-India Kashmiri parties of being corrupt, misleading Kashmiris and promoting separatism in the region. Kashmiri politicians, who stress that their special status was a constitutional guarantee, have called Modi divisive and anti-minority.
Thousands of armed paramilitary soldiers and police in body armor kept extra vigil throughout the Kashmir Valley, the heart of the ongoing rebellion against Indian rule in the Muslim-majority territory, where many residents are strongly in favor of independence or a merger with Pakistan. Modi’s two previous visits to Kashmir after the status change were to the Hindu-dominated city of Jammu.
Modi did not mention plans to hold elections in the region or to restore its statehood, both issues demanded by Kashmir’s pro-India political parties. The last elections for the regional legislature were held in 2014, but the elected government was dismissed in 2018.
India’s Home Minister Amit Shah has repeatedly promised that the region will regain statehood after the elections.
- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
- Official Visit to Kashmir’s Main City
- Jammu and Kashmir
- Amit Shah