Increase in tourist arrivals in Kashmir shows improved security: Minister
Union Minister Jitendra Singh | Photo: PTI
Nearly two crore tourist visitors in Kashmir this year speak for the improved security situation in the Valley, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Saturday, asserting that security agencies are taking necessary measures to counter terrorist activities.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a meeting in Kathua district, he said it was not correct to say that the security situation was deteriorating.
Talking about the ambush by terrorists who attacked two army vehicles, killing five soldiers and injuring two, in Poonch district on Thursday, Singh said, “We cannot ignore such incidents and the agencies concerned are taking necessary steps to counter them. “
“Around two million tourists visited Kashmir this year… the number speaks for itself about the improved security situation in the Valley. The tourists visit each place only after they are assured that it is safe for them and their families,” the minister.
On the Supreme Court's December 11 verdict upholding the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, Singh said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done the people a favor by correcting the “miscarriage of the Constitution and the aberration of democracy”. .
“Even the architect of Article 370 (former Prime Minister Jawaharlal) Nehru had described it as temporary. But his successors developed vested interests in continuing this constitutional provision,” he said.
The Union minister said that the BJP has completed the unfinished work and there is no doubt about it.
Singh was in Kathua, which is part of his parliamentary constituency Udhampur, to attend a women's symposium and a 'Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra', which aims to increase awareness among the people about the central government's flagship programmes.
“Through the yatra, people living in remote areas of the Union Territory will enjoy benefits irrespective of their caste, color or creed,” he said.
The minister disclosed that Kathua is being developed on many fronts to make it a model district not only for Jammu and Kashmir but also for the rest of the country. In the last decade, no other constituency has seen such overall development as Udhampur-Kathua constituency, he claimed.
At the women's symposium, the minister asked students to realize Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of a developed India by 2047, saying the government has taken it upon itself to scale up capacity building of the youth. “It is now the job of the youth to ensure that the India of 2047 achieves the glory it deserves,” he added.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
First print: December 23, 2023 | 9:30 PM IST