Govt will make every effort to bring back tourists to Kashmir: Union Civil Aviation Minister

Union Civil Aviation Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu Thursday said the government would make every effort to bring back tourists to Kashmir, which has witnessed a decrease in footfall of visitors after last month's terror attack in Pahalgam.

He reviewed the functioning of the Srinagar airport which resumed operations on Wednesday following suspension of hostilities between India and Pakistan. The union minister later interacted with the locals at the Polo View market in the heart of the Srinagar city.

"I wanted to visit places outside the airport as well. So, I went to the Polo View market and interacted with the locals. They are worried about the harm tourism has suffered. Tourism has ebbed after the incident (Pahalgam attack) and we have to work to revive it," Naidu told reporters here.

He said tourism in Kashmir had witnessed a boom in the past five years whih could be figured from the arrivals at the Srinagar airport.

"Airport arrivals increased from 25 lakh passengers in 2019 to about 45 lakh in 2024. That has benefited the people here. The government will try to restore tourism as it was (before the attack) as soon as possible and also boost it further," Naidu said.

"We will provide wahtever support is required from the civil aviation ministry. We are working under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has taken Kashmir forward with a vision and people have benefited from it," he added.

The civil aviation minister said connectivity between Srinagar and other parts of the country has been restored after a temporary halt in the wake of Operation Sindoor.

"I have come to review (the functioning of) Srinagar airport as we want normalcy to return... We have resumed Srinagar airport's connectivity with the other parts of the country.

"We interacted with all officers and staff and thanked them for their display of courage in such tiring times. The entire nation is proud of our armed forces for giving a befitting reply to terrorists with a targeted approach through Operation Sindoor," the Union minister added.