Kashmir prepares for tourism ‘long lull' as war cries ring loud
The livelihood of residents in the divided Himalayan region has become one of the first victims of the latest India-Pakistan conflict. PHOTO: REUTERS
SRINAGAR/PIR CHINASI – Hotels and houseboats in Indian Kashmir are offering discounts of up to 70 per cent after travellers fled following a deadly attack.
On the Pakistani side, a tourist hot spot just on the border was sealed off as war cries between the foes grow louder.
Residents in the divided Himalayan region known for its snow-covered peaks, fast-running streams and majestic Mughal-era gardens rely heavily on tourism, but their livelihood has become one of the first victims of the latest hostilities between Pakistan and India.
The nuclear-armed neighbours have fought two wars over the disputed region, which they both claim in full while ruling in part, and skirmishes between troops stationed along the de facto border have made Kashmir the front line of their discord.
But a sharp decline in militancy and a ceasefire that largely held for four years sparked a tourism boom, sending more than three million travellers to the Indian side of Kashmir in 2024 while nearly 1.5 million vacationed on the Pakistan side.
The influx had been touted as a major success story for the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose revocation of Kashmir's autonomous status in 2019 led to massive unrest.
Hotels, houseboats and taxis were nearly fully booked at the start of the peak summer season in 2025 too, before the attack in April on tourists killed 26 men in a meadow.
India has blamed Pakistan for the attack and announced a series of diplomatic and economic steps against the neighbour. Pakistan has denied any role, unveiled tit-for-tat measures and warned of an imminent military strike by India.
Mr Yaseen Tuman, who runs a more than 100-year-old travel agency and operates multiple houseboats in Srinagar, the main city of Indian Kashmir, said that nearly all his customers had cancelled bookings and his houseboats were empty.
'Our houseboats were packed and now we have no guests,' Mr Tuman told Reuters, sitting on a wooden sofa in one of the houseboats on Nigeen Lake.
Indian travel booking websites show houseboats and hotels offering heavy discounts, but Mr Tuman said he will not cut rates because he did not expect tourists to come in big numbers anyway.
'We will have to prepare for a long lull.'
Hotels and houseboats in Indian Kashmir are offering discounts of up to 70 per cent after travellers fled following a deadly attack.
PHOTO: REUTERS
'Going to hurt badly'
On the other side in Pir Chinasi, located at an altitude of 2895.6m, roadside restaurants, hotels and guesthouses were sparsely occupied after the authorities advised caution, fearing an Indian strike, though it is not so close to the de facto border.
Neelum Valley, which lies on the border and is one of the most favoured tourist destinations in Pakistan, is out of bounds for now, the authorities say.
All the nearly 370 hotels and guesthouses in the valley are now empty, said Mr Abrar Ahmad Butt, spokesperson for the hotels and guesthouses association of the region. Tourists typically throng the place starting in May as temperatures soar in rest of the country.
'It's going to hurt badly this season,' he said.
Tourism employs around 16,000 people in the region.
For Mr Syed Yasir Ali, who works at a foreign mission in Islamabad, not being able to go to Neelum Valley may have been a dampener but he felt no fear in visiting Pir Chinasi with his wife and three sons.
'This side is safe', he said, suggesting that others were wrongly fearful of visiting. 'I am on the ground, it is safe.'
But the fear is having real economic consequences for a tuck shop run by Mr Musaddiq Hussain.
'Business is completely down,' he said. 'We should have peace in the country, so that we could prosper. We want both countries to have peace.'
In Srinagar, taxi driver Tanveer rues the lost opportunity.
'The streets were packed, there was no place to drive in the city before the horrific killing,' he said, giving only one name. 'I wait for a passenger all day. Before the attack, I had no time to take on more work.' REUTERS
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
12 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Explainer-What is the High Seas Treaty to protect world oceans?
General view of the opening of the third UN Ocean Conference Monday, June 9, 2025 in Nice, France. Laurent Cipriani/Pool via REUTERS LONDON - While many countries have agreed to take steps to protect the vast, ungoverned swathes of the world's oceans, they have yet to see their High Seas Treaty go into effect. This week's U.N. Oceans Conference in the French city of Nice hopes to change that. WHAT IS THE HIGH SEAS TREATY? The treaty, signed in 2023, provides a legal framework for creating marine protected areas on the "high seas", or the ocean areas that lie beyond any national jurisdiction. Currently, less than 3% of the oceans are under some form of protection, although altogether the world's oceans cover two-thirds of the planet. The treaty contains 75 points covering areas such as protecting, caring for and ensuring responsible use of marine resources, and includes a provision for requiring environmental impact assessments of any economic activities in international waters. The treaty also aims to ensure that all countries have fair and equitable access to the ocean's resources. While it is widely referred to as the High Seas Treaty, officially it is called the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Treaty. As of Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron said 50 countries had ratified the treaty, with 60 needed for it to go into effect. Separate to the High Seas Treaty, countries agreed under a 2022 U.N. biodiversity pact to put 30% of their territorial waters under conservation. WHY DO WE NEED AN OCEAN TREATY? Oceans support coastal economies and livelihoods through tourism, fishing, shipping, mining, offshore energy and more. Oceans also absorb about a third of the world's carbon dioxide, or CO2 - the primary gas driving climate change - while ocean-swimming phytoplankton provide about half of the world's oxygen. But marine life is now struggling, and human industry and development are almost entirely to blame. More than 1,500 ocean plants and animals are now at risk of extinction, and that number is expected to rise amid ongoing pollution, overfishing, ocean warming and acidification, according to scientists at the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Additionally, new threats to ocean organisms and ecosystems could emerge in coming years in the form of deep-sea mining for rare-earth minerals. In Nice, Macron is expected to urge countries to support postponing sea-bed exploration while researchers work to understand deep sea ecosystems. Scientists are also concerned about the possibility that governments could look to modify ocean chemistry to boost its capacity for absorbing CO2 - a scenario that researchers say could help to limit global warming but could also have unintended consequences. WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS FOR THE TREATY? Macron's news on Monday of 50 governments having ratified the treaty means it is still short by 10 signatures. The treaty will enter into force 120 days after 60 countries have ratified it. Work then begins on setting up institutions and committees to implement the treaty, while its signatories expect to hold a first conference within a year. Despite its involvement in the original treaty negotiations, the United States under current President Donald Trump is not expected to ratify the treaty. WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING AT THE U.N. OCEANS CONFERENCE? Macron is co-hosting this third U.N. Oceans conference with Costa Rica, and with at least 55 heads of state, business leaders and civil society groups expected to attend the five-day event. Aside from discussions to advance the treaty, delegates are also expected this week to discuss overfishing, water pollution and other threats to marine life. They'll also be looking for fresh ideas on how to pay for it all - with ocean-linked financing lagging far behind other sustainable investment areas. For the five years spanning 2015-2019, ocean-related spending totalled $10 billion. By comparison, the U.N. estimates that every year at least $175 billion is needed for marine protection. The last U.N. oceans summit was held in Lisbon and co-hosted by Kenya in 2022. The next, co-hosted by Chile and Korea, is set for 2028. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Trump hints he would support arrest of California Governor Newsom
FILE PHOTO: California Governor Gavin Newsom gestures while speaking, as he announces the Golden State Literacy Plan and deployment of literacy coaches statewide, at the Clinton Elementary School in Compton, California, U.S. June 5, 2025. REUTERS/Daniel Cole/File Photo Trump hints he would support arrest of California Governor Newsom WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday suggested that he would support an arrest of California Governor Gavin Newsom amid pro-immigration protests in the state, which prompted the president to deploy the National Guard. On Saturday, Tom Homan, the administration's border czar, threatened to arrest anyone who obstructs immigration enforcement efforts in the state, including Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. Newsom responded during an NBC News interview by challenging Homan to "just get it over with" and move ahead with the arrest. Asked on Monday about Newsom daring Homan to arrest him, Trump said, "I would." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
‘Quantum leap': Nato chief Mark Rutte calls for 400% increase in air and missile defence
Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte speaking during a press conference at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on June 4. PHOTO: REUTERS – Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte will use a speech in London on June 9 to say the military alliance needs a 400 per cent increase in air and missile defence, one of the priorities for a summit of members in The Hague later in June. Mr Rutte is pushing for members to boost defence spending to 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) and commit a further 1.5 per cent to broader security-related spending to meet US President Donald Trump's demand for a 5 per cent target. In May , he said he assumed that the target would be agreed at the summit on June 24 and 25. Mr Rutte will argue in a speech at London's Chatham House think-tank that for Nato to maintain credible deterrence and defence, it needs 'a 400 per cent increase in air and missile defence'. 'We see in Ukraine how Russia delivers terror from above, so we will strengthen the shield that protects our skies,' he will say, according to extracts of his speech provided by his office. 'The fact is, we need a quantum leap in our collective defence. The fact is, we must have more forces and capabilities to implement our defence plans in full. The fact is, danger will not disappear even when the war in Ukraine ends.' With little let up in fighting in Russia's war against Ukraine despite ceasefire calls, European countries are under pressure to raise defence spending after Mr Trump signalled a shift in policy, pushing for the region to better protect itself. Several countries say they are doing so, with Britain pledging an increase from 2.3 per cent to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027 and 3 per cent of GDP at a later date. Germany has said it will need roughly 50,000 to 60,000 additional active soldiers under new Nato targets. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
