SRINAGAR, Jun 9: Highlighting surging tourist numbers and revival of filmmaking in Jammu and Kashmir, Union Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth on Tuesday said Kashmir is witnessing peace, stability and development under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Last year, 2.41 crore tourists visited Jammu and Kashmir, while 1.77 crore tourists have visited this year so far,” he said while speaking to reporters after reviewing the AIIMS Awantipora project in Pulwama district.
He also said that earlier, most films were shot in Kashmir, but the numbers came down (after turmoil in the late 1980s).
“But now, it has rebounded,” he said, highlighting that 400 films were shot in the valley last year.
“The PM always stresses visiting Kashmir and the North-east. Our India is one, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari,” Seth said.
The Union minister said he has been visiting Kashmir regularly since the 1970s.
“There is a vast difference between the Kashmir of those days and now. There is a lot of development that has taken place, and the past 12 years have been incomparable in this regard,” the minister asserted.
Seth said the cricket bat industry has also flourished in recent years, as India has exported 30 lakh bats from Kashmir to countries like Britain, Australia and Saudi Arabia.
On the AIIMS Awantipora project, he said it is the biggest gift from the PM to the people of Kashmir.
“People would no longer need to travel to Delhi and Chandigarh for treatment. The biggest gift to Kashmir and Srinagar is this AIIMS hospital. “There are two AIIMS in J&K — one in Jammu and one in Srinagar. Before Modi became the PM in 2014, there were eight AIIMS. Today we have 23. In the health sector, he started the precedent-setting healthcare scheme under Ayushman Bharat,” he said.
