Narendra Modi accused Pakistan on Tuesday of waging a proxy war in Kashmir as he became the first Indian prime minister to visit Kargil since more than 1,000 died in fighting there 15 years ago.
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Modi landed in the remote Himalayan town a day after India and its rival Pakistan traded accusations of ceasefire violations on their border in Kashmir.
He is the first Indian leader to visit the highly sensitive area since a 1999 Pakistani army incursion triggered a conflict between the two countries.
Since then, India has maintained a heavy military presence in Muslim-majority Kargil in the mountainous Kashmiri region of Ladakh.
But a reporter at the scene said there were few soldiers on the streets of Kargil on Tuesday.
"Today when I came I heard the cheerful claps of the people," Modi told the 5,000-strong crowd in the town, which was festooned with flags from his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.
Ā
Modi landed in the remote Himalayan town a day after India and its rival Pakistan traded accusations of ceasefire violations on their border in Kashmir.
He is the first Indian leader to visit the highly sensitive area since a 1999 Pakistani army incursion triggered a conflict between the two countries.
Since then, India has maintained a heavy military presence in Muslim-majority Kargil in the mountainous Kashmiri region of Ladakh.
But a reporter at the scene said there were few soldiers on the streets of Kargil on Tuesday.
"Today when I came I heard the cheerful claps of the people," Modi told the 5,000-strong crowd in the town, which was festooned with flags from his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.