In the upcoming years, the tourism sector is going to further expand in the valley, which will create a ripple effect for the overall economy of the state, he said.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the main city in Himalayan Kashmir on Thursday to campaign for his party in the local election, the first such vote since New Delhi stripped the disputed region’s semi-autonomy in 2019.

In Indian-controlled Kashmir, residents are voting in elections that some hope will lead to restoration of the territory's statehood, which ended when it became a federally governed territory in 2019.