New Delhi: Addressing the recent spike in deaths of soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir, Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai, today said that “significant progress” has been made in counter-terrorism efforts while acknowledging the loss of soldiers.
“In the last few days, 28 terrorists have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir. What’s saddening is that some of our soldiers have also been killed in the firefighting. The soldiers killed are very less than the terrorists neutralized,” he said while addressing a question on the death of soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir in the past few months.
Rai also emphasized the “restored peace” in the region, which has led to a surge in tourism.
“In 2023, 2 crore 11 thousand tourists visited Jammu and Kashmir. Peace has been restored there, which is why tourists are increasing,” he added.
Reiterating the government’s strong stance on terrorism, Rai stated, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has zero tolerance towards terrorism and we will finish it completely. The total number of people killed from 2004 to 2014 in Jammu and Kashmir was 2819, and in these ten years, 941 deaths have been reported, which has reduced by 66 percent.”
Rai’s clarification follows a surge in terror attacks in the Jammu region, including an attack on an army convoy in Kathua and encounters in Doda and Udhampur.
He further noted, “80 percent of deaths of the people have been reduced now as compared to when the Congress was in power. After the abrogation of Article 370, at least 200 terrorists have been killed by the Indian Army.”
Meanwhile, citing a report availed to the MHA by the Jammu and Kashmir government, Rai said “The tourism sector has recorded an annual average growth rate of 15.13 percent during the last three years.”
As per the Minister, a total of 1,08,41,009 tourists visited Jammu and Kashmir between January to June 2024 and 2,11,24,674 in 2023– all-time high so far– followed by the visit of 1,88,64,332 tourists in 2022, 1,13,14,884 in 2021 and 34,70,834 tourists in 2020.
He clarified that the fall in the tourism sector in 2020 was due to the Covid pandemic. The government of Jammu and Kashmir has reported that several measures have been taken that led to significant improvement in the tourism sector including Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Policy 2020 notified by the government.
Other measures include availing of incentives under the Jammu and Kashmir Industrial Policy- 2021 considering the status of industry to the tourism sector in the Union Territory.
