JAMMU: Nearly two crore tourist footfall in Kashmir this year speak for the improved security situation in the Valley, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Saturday and asserted that security agencies are taking necessary measures to counter terrorist activities.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function in Kathua district, he said it was not right to say that the security situation was deteriorating.

About the ambush by terrorists who targeted two Army vehicles, killing five soldiers and injuring two, in Poonch district on Thursday, Singh said, “We cannot ignore these types of incidents and the agencies concerned are taking necessary measures to counter these.”

“About two crore tourists visited Kashmir this year… the number speaks for itself about the improved security situation in the Valley. The tourists visit any place only after making sure that it is safe for them and their families,” the minister said.

On the Supreme Court verdict on December 11 upholding the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, Singh said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done a favour for the people by setting right the “miscarriage of Constitution and miscarriage of democracy”.

“Even the architect of Article 370 (former Prime Minister Jawaharlal) Nehru had described it as temporary. But his successors developed vested interests in continuation of this constitutional provision,” he said.

The Union minister said the BJP has completed the unfinished job and there is no doubt about it.

Singh was in Kathua, which is a part of his Udhampur parliamentary constituency, to attend a women’s symposium and a ‘Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra’ which aims at raising awareness among the people about the Central government’s flagship schemes.

“Through the yatra, people living in far-flung areas of the Union Territory are drawing benefits irrespective of their caste, colour or creed,” he said.

The minister announced that Kathua is being developed on many fronts to make it a model district not only for Jammu and Kashmir but also for the rest of the country. In the last 10 years, no other constituency has seen all-round development as the Udhampur-Kathua Constituency, he claimed.

At the women’s symposium, the minister asked students to realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a developed India by 2047, saying the government has taken it upon itself to scale up the capacity building of its youth. “It is now incumbent upon the youth to ensure that the India of 2047 reaches the glory it deserves,” he added.