Modi opens key J&K rail link, targets Pak

Hindustan Times

16 hours ago

Terror attacks such as the one in Pahalgam will not be allowed to stall the development of Jammu & Kashmir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday, inaugurating the Chenab railway bridge, the world's highest single arch rail bridge, that completes the 272-km long Udhampur-Srinagar -Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project and flagging off the Vande Bharat train from Katra to Srinagar.
'I, Narendra Modi, promise the people of J&K that development that we started here in 2014 won't stop. No obstacle will be allowed in the path of youth of J&K fulfilling their dreams, ' he said while addressing a public gathering at Katra.
The project Modi chose to send out this message is significant in many ways. The completion of USBRL, a project that was first launched in the late 1990s, puts Srinagar on the rail map of India. 'Today's programme is a huge celebration off India's unity and willpower,' he added. 'For years, we have spoken of 'Kashmir to Kanyakumari'...,' the Prime Minister said. 'Today, that has become a reality.'
USBRL, completed at a cost of around ₹44,000 crore has 38 tunnels and 943 bridges, including two that the Prime Minister inaugurated on Friday — the Chenab one , which is at a height of 359 metres over the river, and the Anji Khad bridge, India's first cable-stayed rail one. The link makes it possible to reach Srinagar from Katra in three hours, and from Delhi in 13 hours.
This was Modi's first visit to Jammu & Kashmir following Operation Sindoor , and referring to it, the Prime Minister described Pakistan an enemy of humanity and the poor people of Jammu & Kashmir.
The PM said that while his government has constantly endeavoured to increase job opportunities for young people, and tourism is one avenue for this, Pakistan has worked against such efforts.
'Our neighbour is enemy of humanity, tourism and trust. It is such a country, which is against livelihood of the poor people...Pahalgam attack of April 22 is the example of it. At Pahalgam, Pakistan attacked Insaniyat (humanity) and Kashmiriyat (Kashmiriness)', he said.
'Pakistan harboured a malafide intention to engineer communal riots and hit economy of Kashmir. That's why it attacked tourists,' he added.
In response to the terror attack, which killed 26 people, all men, and 24 of them Hindus, India launched Operation Sindoor. Between the launch of the operation in the early hours of May 7 and the ceasefire on the evening of May 10, Indian forces bombed nine terror camps in Pakistan and PoK and killed at least 100 terrorists, and the Indian Air Force struck targets at 13 Pakistani air bases and military installations.
Modi recalled that before Pahalgam attack, tourism in Jammu & Kashmir had picked up momentum , providing livelihoods to porters, guides, guest house owners and shopkeepers.
'Pakistan conspired to ruin them all,' he said.
He also remembered Syed Adil Hussain Shah, a guide who challenged the terrorists and paid for it with his life.
'Adil had gone to Baisaran for earning a livelihood but terrorists killed him also. However, the way people of J&K stood up and exhibited courage, a very strong message has gone not only to Pakistan but also perpetrators of terrorism across the world,' he said.
It is clear, the Prime Minister said, that young people in the UT have decided to give a strong response to terrorism.
'For years together, the people of J&K witnessed a vicious cycle of destruction and they stopped dreaming. They were resigned to their fate and accepted terrorism. HBut it was important to bail J&K out of the morass and we did it,' Modi said, referring, without mentioning, his government's move in 2019 to abrogate Article 370 and integrate J&K completely with the rest of the country. 'Today, the youth of Jammu & Kashmir has started seeing new dreams and are converting them into a reality,' he said.
Referring to Operation Sindoor, Modi said that whenever Pakistan hears that name, it will be reminded of its humiliating defeat.
'The Pakistani army and terrorists never thought that India would enter hundreds of kilometers inside Pakistan and attack terrorists. The buildings of terror were converted into heaps of rubble in few minutes,' he said.
Modi added that stung by India's Operation Sindoor, a desperate Pakistan attacked innocent people including children in Jammu and Poonch.
'Over 2000 families were also affected by enemy shelling. They were given financial aid to repair their houses. Now, the Centre has decided to increase it. I want to inform you that the houses which suffered extensive damage will get ₹2 lakh and those partially damaged will get ₹1 lakh assistance over and above the financial aid which has already been given.'
Chief minister Omar Abdullah and Union rail minister Ashwini Vaishnaw were also present at the event.
'Even the British wanted to connect Kashmir by train but they did not succeed... What the British could not achieve has happened at your (Modi's) hands and Kashmir has been connected to the rest of the country,' Abdullah said
Hailing the completion of the project, Vaishnaw said: 'The nation nurtured the dream of this raily line but there were many difficulties... [The project] became possible due to the strong will and determined endeavour of the Prime Minister.'