NEW DELHI – Dubai has signed an accord to build infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir, the government said on Monday, at a time when the region is seeing a resurgence in violence. No figure for the value of the accord was given.
The memorandum of understanding by Dubai, part of the United Arab Emirates, is the first investment agreement by a foreign government in the region, following the scrapping of special status to Jammu and Kashmir and division of the state into two Union Territories.
The government said the agreement will see Dubai building infrastructure including industrial parks, IT towers, multi-purpose towers, logistics centres, a medical college and a speciality hospital.
“The world has started to recognize the pace (at) which Jammu and Kashmir is traversing on the development bandwagon,” Union Minister Piyush Goyal said in a statement.
The statement said different entities from Dubai had shown keen interest in investment in Kashmir.
However, investment is fraught with risks as evidenced by a spate of terrorist attacks on civilians.
On Monday, the authorities moved thousands of migrant workers in Kashmir to safer locations overnight. -REUTERS
