SRINAGAR, March 7: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Thursday he was working to "win hearts" in Indian-administered Kashmir, on his first visit to the disputed regions main city since its semi-autonomy was cancelled in 2019.
Modis government stripped the Muslim-majority territory of its special constitutional status nearly five years ago, splitting the former state into two territories directly ruled from New Delhi.
The move, widely welcomed across India, angered many in the densely militarised territory.
"I am working hard to win your hearts, and my attempt to keep winning your hearts will continue," the Hindu nationalist leader said at a public rally in Srinagar.
Rebels in the Himalayan region have waged an insurgency since 1989, seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan -- which controls a smaller part of the Kashmir region and, like India, claims it in full.
"Jammu and Kashmir is not just a region, it is the crown of the country," Modi said at the rally in a stadium attended by thousands. —AFP
