Choose between tourism and terrorism: Modi tells Kashmiri youth

Asserting that the path of bloodshed has helped no one, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged the Kahsmiri youth to not be misguided and choose to be productive instead.

Speaking in Udampur after inaugurating the Chenani-Nashri tunnel, Modi said no one has benefitted from decades of violence in the valley, but it has 'only left Kashmir drenched in blood'.

He praised the youth for constructing nation's longest tunnel.

Modi said that if Kashmir had paid attention to development of tourism then it would have been prosperous state by now.

Modi earlier inaugurated a new 10.9 km road tunnel which will shorten the driving time between Jammu and



Srinagar by two hours.

The Chenani-Nashri tunnel on the Jammu-Srinagar highway is India's longest tunnel and will link Chenani in Udhampur district with Nashri in Ramban district.

The tunnel, which took seven years to build, is expected to reduce the travel time between Srinagar and Jammu by two hours.

As many as 1,500 engineers, geologists, skilled workers and labourers worked to construct this tunnel, which has cost Rs 3,720 crore.

The state-of-the-art tunnel has 124 closed-circuit TV cameras for surveillance inside the tunnel. It is expected to boost tourism and economic activities in the State of Jammu and Kashmir as it is an all weather tunnel.