Prime Minister Narendra Modi spent an entire day in the state of Jammu & Kashmir yesterday and launched several large-scale development projects in the presence of Chief Minster Mehbooba Mufti and union cabinet minister Nitin Gadkari.
Modi first inaugurated the 330-MW Kishanganga hydroelectricity project in Srinagar district, saying this project has potential to provide electricity to not only Jammu & Kashmir but rather to other parts of the country, and it will reduce J&K’s dependency on other states to meet its energy requirement.
After laying the foundation stone for Srinagar’s ring-road project, Modi then went to Ladakh to inaugurate the Zojila tunnel which will connect the regions of Leh and Ladakh to the rest of the country via Srinagar. This 14 km tunnel is going to be India’s longest and will also be Asia’s longest bi-directional tunnel.
The Prime Minister praised J&K during one of these events, saying the state will emerge as the rising star of ‘New India’ soon. He said he was glad to have visited all three regions of the state and announce projects worth Rs. 25,000 crores that will have a long-lasting impact on the people.
Modi appealed to the youth of J&K to give a chance to peace and refrain from activities like stone pelting. Instead, he said, they should take benefit of all schemes being provided to them by the government and participate in the development of their state. Without naming Pakistani, he also attacked India’s “neighbors” who are trying to destabilize the J&K.
Modi’s visit to Jammu & Kashmir and these statements come amidst the central government’s promise to call off retaliatory operations by the armed forces in the state during the festive period of Ramadan in order to placate innocent people to stop supporting militants and promote peace in the valley. This decision is said to have gone down well amongst the people and instances of terrorist attacks are also expected to come down this month.