Katra:
Narendra Modi has flagged off a new train to Katra, the base town for the Vaishno Devi shrine, on his first visit to Jammu and Kashmir after taking over as Prime Minister. He has a packed schedule in the state today, and there is massive security amid calls for a bandh by separatists.
Mr Modi landed in Jammu this morning and flew by chopper to Katra, where he flagged off the new train to Delhi via Udhampur. An estimated 50 lakh people visit the Vaishno Devi shrine every year.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who was present at the inauguration, reminded people in a tweet, "The train won't go to Vaishno Devi it will go to Katra. It's still a 15 KM climb to the temple so "train to Vaishno Devi" is overselling it."
After the inauguration he said crores of pilgrims would benefit from the new train.
Katra has so far been accessible by road. The train connectivity to the town is part of an ambitious Rs 1,150-crore Kashmir rail link project which links the region with the rest of the country.
From Katra, Mr Modi will head to J&K capital Srinagar, where he will address troops of the Indian Army at the Badami Bagh Cantonment. He will later lunch with Governor N N Vohra at the Raj Bhawan.
In Srinagar, big hoardings welcome Mr Modi, but shops, business establishments, schools and banks are closed in the state today and there is little traffic on the roads in most parts of the Valley. Separatists have called for a strike in protest against Mr Modi's visit.
There is massive deployment of security personnel in Srinagar and other sensitive places.
Mr Modi will also visit Uri to inaugurate the second phase of a hydel project. Mr Modi will return to Delhi in the evening.
Ahead of Mr Modi's visit, Pakistan brought up Kashmir. "We do not accept the so-called accession of the State of Jammu and Kashmir to India. Kashmir is not an integral part of India. Our position is that Jammu and Kashmir is a disputed territory," said Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam on Thursday.