India will lift a travel advisory on occupied Kashmir on Thursday, Indian media said quoting authorities, two months after the government launched a security crackdown before stripping the region of its semi-autonomous status on August 5.
Thousands of Indian tourists, pilgrims and workers fled the Muslim-majority region in early August after authorities issued a security alert.
Telephone and internet services were suspended and public movements restricted to prevent protests hours before India announced it had revoked the region’s special status.
Mobile and internet services are largely still blocked in the Kashmir valley.
The travel advisory issued on Aug 2 will be lifted from Thursday, Indian government said in a statement on Monday.
“The governor [Satya Pal Malik] directed that the Home Department’s advisory asking tourists to leave the Valley be lifted immediately. This will be done with effect from October 10,” an official spokesman was quoted as saying by India Today.
Kashmir touts itself as a “Paradise on Earth” and known for its mountains, glaciers and Dal Lake, a favourite destination centuries ago for Mughal emperors escaping the summer heat of India’s plains.
However, Britain and other countries still have advisories in place discouraging their citizens from travelling to occupied Jammu and Kashmir, where a grenade attack injured 10 people on the weekend.
Originally published on https://www.dawn.com