Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to hold a rally in the main city of India-held Kashmir on Thursday, on his first visit since the disputed region’s semi-autonomy was cancelled in 2019.
Modi’s government stripped the Muslim-majority disputed territory of its special constitutional status, 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.
Thousands of armed police and paramilitary forces were deployed, and new checkpoints were set up across India-held Kashmir’s main city Srinagar, where the Hindu nationalist leader is scheduled to address a public gathering around midday.
A government statement said Modi will also inaugurate infrastructure around the revered Muslim shrine of Hazratbal.
The visit comes ahead of India’s national elections due by May, the first since the region lost its autonomy. The last local elections in Kashmir were held in 2014.
Modi’s government claims New Delhi’s direct rule of India-held Kashmir brought about a new era of “peace and development” in the region, but critics and many residents say it heralded a drastic curtailment of civil liberties and press freedom.
