Modi visits Indian-controlled Kashmir as part of his election campaign under massive security measures

SRINAGAR, INDIA — India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the largest city in the Himalayan region of Kashmir on Thursday to campaign for his party in local elections. It is the first election of its kind since New Delhi stripped the disputed region of its partial autonomy in 2019.

Modi's visit to Srinagar in the Kashmir Valley, the centre of decades-old anti-India rebellion, comes amid strong public opposition to changes New Delhi made five years ago, which stripped the region's semi-autonomous status, annulled its separate constitution, downgraded the former state and divided it into two centrally governed union territories – Ladakh and Jammu-Kashmir – and scrapped long-standing land and job protections.

Authorities laid barbed wire and set up road checkpoints to block roads leading to Modi's campaign rally in Srinagar's main commercial hub. Armed paramilitary troops and police in flak jackets patrolled the area, and snipers and sharpshooters were stationed on the roofs of buildings near the venue.

“We have said in Parliament that we will restore statehood (to the region). Only the BJP will fulfil this promise,” Modi told the cheering crowd at the rally, referring to his Bharatiya Janata Party.

Kashmir has been the centre of conflict between India and Pakistan since 1947, after British rule over the subcontinent ended with the creation of the two rival countries. Both administer part of it but lay claim to the entire territory.

Since 1989, militants in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir have been fighting against New Delhi's rule. Most Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels' goal of uniting the region either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.

India insists the insurgency is Pakistan-backed terrorism, a charge Islamabad denies. Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the fighting, which most Kashmiri Muslims view as a legitimate struggle for freedom.

Thursday's visit was Modi's second to the Muslim-majority region to campaign for his party's candidates in the ongoing elections. Voting began on Wednesday and turnout was high in the first phase.

The vote is the first in a decade and the first since his Hindu nationalist government moved in 2019. Kashmir's pro-India political parties have vowed to fight to reverse the changes.

Last week, Modi addressed a similar rally in the southern district of Doda.

The second and third phases of the election are scheduled for September 25 and October 1. The process is being staggered for logistical reasons and to give troops freedom of movement to prevent possible violence in the Himalayan region. The votes will be counted on October 8 and the results are expected that day.