Tourist enthusiasm to visit J&K not diminished after Pahalgam attack: HM Amit Shah

Jammu, Feb 7 (IANS) Union Home Minister Amit Shah claimed on Saturday that the enthusiasm among the tourists across India has not diminished despite the volatile situation arising in Kashmir out of last year’s Pahalgam attack.

“The enthusiasm of tourists from across the country to visit Jammu and Kashmir has not diminished. There is a need for aggressive marketing of Jammu and Kashmir’s tourist destinations in other states to explore the tourism potential available here,” Shah said.

The Home Minister said the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre will provide all possible assistance in the plan to develop new tourist destinations in J&K.

On Saturday, the Home Minister also chaired a development assessment meeting to review the progress of various development projects in J&K.

The meeting was held at Lok Bhawan in Jammu and attended by J&K L-G Manoj Sinha, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, J&K Chief Secretary, DGP Nalin Prabhat, and others.

On April 22, 2025, Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) targeted tourists at the famous south Kashmir hill resort of Pahalgam, killing 26 people and dealing a severe setback to the tourism industry in J&K.

Earlier on Saturday, Amit Shah met senior BJP leaders. He said on X, “ Today, I held meetings in Jammu with the state office-bearers and MLAs, MPs of @BJP4JnK. BJP will continue working to ensure the ground-level reach of Modiji’s development initiatives, while expanding the organization, to realize the vision of ‘Developed Jammu & Kashmir, Secure Jammu & Kashmir’.

On Friday, Amit Shah visited the International Border (IB) in Kathua district, where he interacted with BSF personnel and lauded their role in protecting the country’s borders. He said that, in addition to human deployment, BSF must use modern technology to enhance vigilance at the border.

He paid tribute to martyrs of the J&K Police force and interacted with the families of the police martyrs at a meeting during which he gave appointment letters to the next of kin of the martyrs.

This was Amit Shah’s second J&K security review meeting in less than a month.

On January 8, he held a review meeting on J&K security in New Delhi. The Union Home Minister has directed the security forces to adopt a mission-mode approach to neutralise anti-state actors in J&K and usher in complete peace.

Amit Shah left for Chhattisgarh in the evening after concluding his 3-day J&K visit.

–IANS

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