Srinagar, May 24: India’s G20 Sherpa and former CEO of NITI Aayog, Amitabh Kant lauded the significant changes witnessed in Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370.
In an exclusive interview with Greater Kashmir, Kant highlighted the stark contrast between the present-day scenario and the turbulent past marred by violence and unrest in Kashmir.
“I’ve been coming here for a long time, and I’ve seen the period of stone pelting, hartals (shutdowns), and violence,” Kant said. “And I see a very radical transformation on the ground here.”
He emphasised that during his interactions with locals during the G20 and recent visits, he sensed a strong desire for peace, progress, and development among the people of Kashmir.
Kant commended the Lieutenant Governor’s administration for ensuring free, fair, and safe elections.
He particularly noted the high voter turnout, even in aspirational districts like Baramulla, where the voting percentage surpassed that of several metropolitan cities in India.
“I met a vast number of people in Kashmir and young people who voted for the first time,” Kant said, expressing his appreciation for the LG administration’s efforts in facilitating the democratic process.
“This shows that people now have faith in the democratic process and believe that democracy will bring good for the citizens of Kashmir,” he said.
On hosting more G20-like events in Kashmir, Kant said, “I discussed this with the LG. He is very keen that we constantly do unique things in Kashmir. And I suggested to him, we should get the top CEOs and do a CEOs retreat on resilience and reinvention in Kashmir. We should also do a very major meet of all start-ups, the top start-ups and amplify the start-up movement in Kashmir because Kashmir is the ‘Valley of Hope’ for all start-ups.”
Highlighting the potential for film tourism, Kant said: “The first time I came to Kashmir was when I was in school. I came with my parents and we went to Gulmarg and Pahalgam. In Pahalgam, I saw my first film shooting. And it was ‘Jab Jab Phool Khile’ with Shashi Kapoor and Nanda. It was a unique experience. And all the top films of India used to be shot here. Nowhere will you get this experience of love, romance, action, and everything being shot in Kashmir. This panoramic view: the snow, the mountains, and the greens – all this you will not get anywhere else in the world. So, I would appeal not merely to Bollywood but to the film industry of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala too. All of these are very big industries. They should all come and shoot in Kashmir. This is a big opportunity.”
Kant envisioned Kashmir as a prime destination for Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) tourism and weddings.
“The other big opportunity to my mind is promoting Kashmir as a destination for MICE tourism. And actually making it a very big destination for weddings. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that Indians should not host weddings abroad. Weddings must be held in India and therefore Kashmir is the greatest destination for weddings,” he said.
Comparing Kashmir to Davos, Kant said, “I have been to Davos several times. I think Kashmir is a better destination for meetings and incentives and conventions than Davos. This is a much prettier place than Davos. The challenge is that we need to have more hotel rooms. I think the government of J&K is in the process of creating and outsourcing. Many more hotels need to come up.”
On handicrafts, Kant said, “The greatest wealth of Kashmir lies in Pashmina and Kani spinning, weaving, and embroidery. All this is a rare skill of the people of Kashmir. This skill does not exist anywhere in the world. The skills of wood carving and the skills of papier-mâché do not exist anywhere in the world. This is the rarest of the rare skills which only Kashmiri people have.”
He said: “And we need to converge and integrate them with the best brands in the world – with Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, and Hermes. All the top brands of the world need to work with the master craftsmen of Kashmir. And once they do that, the earnings of these master craftsmen and the craftsmen will go up substantially. That will transform their lives. That will get more and more people to put their children into the same skills. That is the way forward. And we need to work with some of the best international brands in the world for Kashmir.”
On the economy post-abrogation of Article 370, Kant said, “The economy will flourish now. This will have a huge impact in terms of ensuring that people have houses, electricity, and water connections. It will lead to the all-round development of Kashmir because you will have the opening of more educational institutions. You will have more hospitals. You will have the coming in of the private sector which will create many more jobs. And you will see the growth and prosperity of skilled workers and you will see the prosperity of the travel and tourism industry of Kashmir.”
Advising the youth of J&K, Kant said, “My advice to them is that India is on the road to being a $35 trillion economy by 2047. It will become the third-largest economy in the world, overtaking Japan and Germany by 2027. When India grows at high rates of 9 to 10 percent over a three-decade period, the benefits of Kashmir will be an integral part of this growth process. And the people of Kashmir will greatly benefit from the growth and prosperity of India. Whether it is structural reforms, digitisation, technology, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the use of quantum computing, use of building new infrastructure, in all these areas you will see huge gains for the people of Kashmir. Once train connectivity reaches here, there will be greater access for all benefits to the people of Kashmir.”
On AI, Kant said, “AI should be seen as a force for good. It is like when the internet came into India. The internet transformed the world. Similarly, AI will be a foundational technology which will transform the world. It will have a huge impact on productivity. It will have huge benefits on learning outcomes, health outcomes, and nutritional standards. It will create new kinds of jobs for data scientists. And people of Kashmir are very tech-savvy. They are educated. They are literate. They like technology. They should be the next data scientists, the next artificial engineers, the next machine learners. They should use AI to make Kashmir technologically pole vault. Not merely Kashmir, but Kashmiris should use AI to find solutions for the rest of India and the rest of the world.”