Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Saturday said that peace would be established in the Jammu region of the Union Territory, hit by a spate of terror attacks in the recent past, within the next six months.
Sinha made these remarks at an interaction with the members of YPO-Global One, an international network of leaders and CEOs in business, here.
The Lieutenant Governor said that Jammu and Kashmir under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership has witnessed a transformative era, fostering peace and inclusive development.
“We don’t believe in buying peace but establishing peace. J&K Police and security forces are on the job. Soon we will completely eliminate terrorism and its entire ecosystem. With the ongoing efforts, I believe the Jammu region is on track to fully regain peace within the next six months,” he said.
Speaking to reporters at a separate event, the Lt Governor said separatism and terrorism have no future in Jammu and Kashmir.
Sinha categorically stated that Pakistan should stop exporting terror.
“There is no future of separatism and terrorism in J&K. I have said it several times that our neighbour is battling its internal issues, it is not even taking care of the basic rights of its citizens. It should stop exporting terrorism,” he said.
During an interaction with the members of YPO-Global One, Sinha highlighted the strategic, multi-faceted approach for Jammu and Kashmir’s holistic development over the last five years, including economic growth, sustainability and seamless implementation of social welfare schemes.
“Our aim is to achieve faster, sustainable and inclusive economic growth. A strategic, multi-faceted approach was adopted to tap the industrial potential of J&K so as to strike the right balance between economic growth, sustainability and social development,” he said.
The LG shared the insights into Jammu and Kashmir’s evolving industrial landscape and the emerging opportunities in the sector.
“I want the industrial growth to benefit all the citizens of Jammu Kashmir. This is my resolve. My second resolve is to ensure that industrial growth is environmentally sustainable,” he said.
“One of our objectives is to make J&K a leader in innovation to attract investments in research, IT and ITeS (Information Technology enabled Services). We have analysed locally available skill set and natural resources in order to promote the relevant sectors as per our advantage,” he added.
For industrial growth of Jammu Kashmir, the lieutenant governor said the government has focused on sectors, which are the strength of the region.
“For example, the Tourism Sector has witnessed massive increase in tourist influx. There is immense potential in this sector for unexplored destinations, film tourism, entertainment sector, hotels and resorts and theme parks. Since we have given industry status to tourism, I am sure the tourism potential of Jammu and Kashmir can be tapped,” Sinha said.
He said the initiatives taken by the government in the past few years have doubled the export of handloom and handicrafts and horticulture products are reaching the global market.
“Today, J&K has no competition in handicraft, handloom and horticulture products,” he added.
During the interaction, the lieutenant governor addressed the queries from YPO members on Jammu Kashmir’s industrial growth.
“I think Jammu and Kashmir has many factors such as economic stability, skilled labour, raw material, better incentives, enabling a safe business environment, high productivity, high potential of value addition, strong infrastructure, transparency and high level of innovation, which makes it an attractive investment destination,” said Sinha.
“Public safety, strong healthcare system, higher education, low expense burden, high productivity, composite culture, all these systems are perfectly suitable for the operations of multinational companies in the J&K UT,” he added.