Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in Jammu this evening for a two-day visit, which comes in the backdrop of heightened tensions between India and Pakistan after New Delhi launched Operation Sindoor in response to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, which claimed the lives of 25 tourists and a local horse ride operator.
Shah was received at the airport by Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and later proceeded to the Raj Bhawan, where he is scheduled to chair a high-level security meeting.
The meeting will be attended by senior officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Army, paramilitary forces, police, intelligence agencies, and civil administration.
It will focus on the current security situation under Operation Sindoor, ongoing counter-terror and anti-infiltration operations, and preparations for the upcoming Amarnath Yatra.
Reports say the Home Minister will visit Poonch tomorrow to addres Border Security Force (BSF) personnel and meet families affected by the recent Pakistani shelling, which left 14 civilians dead and caused extensive damage to homes, businesses and vehicles.
He is also expected to visit areas that saw religious sites and other properties damaged in the shelling.
This is the Union Home Minister's third visit to Jammu and Kashmir since April this year.
He had arrived on the evening of the Pahalgam attack and immediately chaired a key security review meeting, at which time he also met some of the injured tourists and visited the meadows of Baisaran in Pahalgam, the site of the deadly assault.
Before that, on April 6, Shah had undertaken a three-day visit to the Union Territory following the killing of four policemen in an encounter with terrorists in Kathua.
His current visit also follows the Centre’s decision to ban two Kashmir-based political organisations — the Awami Action Committee (AAC), led by Hurriyat leader and cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, as well as the J&K Ittehadul Muslimeen, headed by influential Shia leader Masroor Abbas Ansari — for five years under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Shah has consistently maintained a strong focus on Jammu and Kashmir’s security. Under his directives, security forces have intensified their operations against militants and their support networks in the wake of the Pahalgam massacre.
