India's prime minister on Saturday launched Kashmir's first train service, the fruit of an eight-year project that overcame tough terrain and rebel strife, on a visit overshadowed by violence. Security was tight as Manmohan Singh flagged off the first train to travel along a new 117-kilometre line which it is hoped will help transform the volatile region.
"Our intention is that the future of Kashmir should be socially, economically and politically bright," he said in a pre-launch message. Singh launched the service from Kashmir's summer capital occupied Srinagar, where two Muslims were killed on Friday in police shootings on anti-India demonstrators protesting his visit to the revolt-hit region.
Thousands of police and paramilitary soldiers patrolled occupied Srinagar's streets as shops, schools and offices shut down after freedom fighters and trade unions called a two-day strike to protest the prime minister's visit.
The track links Baramulla town in the north with Qazigund in the south and should eventually be integrated into India's massive national rail network. For the moment, only a 66-kilometre stretch is ready to be used. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and federal railways minister Lalu Prasad Yadav were also present during the tightly-guarded ceremony.
In the second phase, the valley will be linked to the rest of India through Udhampur in Kashmir's south. Currently the only way to reach Kashmir is by a mountainous highway.