Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday opened the country's longest railway tunnel during a rare visit to troubled Indian held Kashmir, which has been marred by one of the deadliest militant attacks on soldiers in years. Singh inaugurated a stretch of line that runs through the 11-kilometre (6.8 mile) long tunnel, part of an ambitious multi-year railway project in the region, as he wrapped up his first visit to the region in three years.
"It took seven years to complete," Singh said of this section of the project, during a speech in the town of occupied Banihal, some 110 kilometres from the main city of occupied Sriningar. It is the first time the premier has visited the Indian-controlled part of the divided Himalayan territory - which has been the scene of two wars with Pakistan - since June 2010 and comes less than a year before India goes to the polls. The tunnel and railway stretch have been added to a train line running through the valley, part of a 20-billion-rupee ($470-million dollar) project that will eventually link held Kashmir to the rest of India's vast railway network.
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