India to allow tourists back into Kashmir

Frustration, anger and fear have been growing in Kashmir since Aug. 5, when the Hindu nationalist-led government of PM Narendra Modi stripped the region of its semi-autonomous status and imposed a curfew and a communications blackout. (AP)
Updated 08 October 2019
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India to allow tourists back into Kashmir

  • The local government had instructed tourists and Hindu pilgrims to leave on Aug. 2
  • Kashmir’s pristine mountainous landscape, ski resorts, lake houseboats and apple orchards have long made it a tourist attraction

NEW DELHI: Authorities in Indian-controlled Kashmir are allowing tourists back into the region two months after ordering them to leave, citing security concerns.
The local government had instructed tourists and Hindu pilgrims to leave on Aug. 2, three days before India stripped the Muslim-majority region of its statehood and special semi-autonomous status.
The local government said in a statement Tuesday that the governor has decided after a security review to lift the restrictions on tourists, effective Thursday.
Kashmir’s pristine mountainous landscape, ski resorts, lake houseboats and apple orchards have long made it a tourist attraction.
India imposed a harsh security clampdown, cutting most communications and detaining thousands of people, after stripping the region of its special status.


Carney denies claim he walked back Davos speech in Trump call

Updated 1 min 14 sec ago
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Carney denies claim he walked back Davos speech in Trump call

  • Carney’s speech last week in Davos urged middle powers to break their reliance on US economic influence
  • Trump told Carney to watch his words as “Canada lives because of the United States”
TORONTO: Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday denied a claim that he walked back his speech at the World Economic Forum denouncing US global leadership in a subsequent call with President Donald Trump.
Carney’s speech last week in Davos, which captured global attention, said the rules-based international order led by the United States for decades was enduring a “rupture” and urged middle powers to break their reliance on US economic influence, which Washington was partly using as “coercion.”
The speech angered Trump, who told Carney to watch his words as “Canada lives because of the United States.”
Speaking to Fox News on Monday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said: “I was in the Oval with the president today. He spoke to Prime Minister Carney, who was very aggressively walking back some of the very unfortunate remarks he made at Davos.”
Carney told reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday that Bessent was incorrect.
“To be absolutely clear, and I said this to the president, I meant what I said in Davos,” he said.
Carney reiterated that Canada “was the first country to understand the change in US trade policy that (Trump) had initiated, and we’re responding to that.”
Carney told reporters that Trump initiated the Monday call, which touched on issues ranging from Arctic security, Ukraine and Venezuela.