SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Shops and businesses are closed in Indian-controlled Kashmir because of a protest by separatist groups against a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Police and paramilitary soldiers patrolled Srinagar, Kashmir’s main city, to prevent demonstrations.
Modi met Thursday with aid groups and political parties in Srinagar to discuss ways to help thousands of Kashmiris left homeless by devastating floods last month. Angry Kashmir residents say the government’s response to the flooding has been inadequate.
Modi earlier Thursday visited Indian soldiers stationed on the Siachen Glacier, known as the world’s highest battlefield, to greet them on Diwali, a major Hindu festival.
Thousands of troops are stationed on Siachen in northern Kashmir as part of a decades-old standoff with Pakistan, which also claims the region.
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