Jammu and Kashmir witnessed the highest number of tourists since the end of British rule in India, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Twitter. The update comes in support of the Narendra Modi-led central government’s decision to scrap special state rights in 2019.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government touted the numbers as a sign of significant economic development in the valley. “Kashmir comes to life!” Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal wrote on Twitter. He said 16.2 million tourists have visited since January, the highest number in 75 years, adding that “transformative initiatives and reforms to uplift Jammu and Kashmir have given a big boost to tourism”.
Goyal did not say what the previous annual high was. The federal territory, known for its snow-capped Himalayan mountains, fast-flowing rivers, Mughal-era gardens, alpine meadows and houseboats around a beautiful lake, has seen a resurgence in domestic tourism as most of the COVID-19 restrictions have ended this year.
The record tourist arrivals are a boon for Modi’s government, which stripped Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir of its state status in 2019 as part of reforms it said were aimed at integrating it with the rest of the country. Hindu-majority India is battling a decades-long separatist Islamist insurgency in Kashmir, which is also claimed by neighboring Pakistan.
Although Goyal did not specify, the vast majority of visitors to Kashmir are domestic tourists. Foreign tourists need a special pass to visit most parts of Jammu and Kashmir. Along with horticulture and agriculture, tourism is an important industry for Kashmir, accounting for about 7% of its economy, according to government figures.
Last month, a top government official inaugurated a multiplex cinema in Srinagar, Kashmir’s largest city, more than two decades after cinemas there were closed. However, Kashmir still experiences occasional violence. The head of Kashmir’s prison service was murdered this week when the home minister visited the region. A militant group claimed responsibility.
