Tight security as Indian president visits frontline troops in Kashmir

Indian President Abdul Kalam travelled to the icy Himalayan heights of disputed Kashmir to address frontline troops hours after soldiers shot dead two Islamic rebels in the region. Tight security surrounded Kalam’s visit to the troops stationed in Kargil, scene of a bloody two-month confrontation high in the Himalayas between Indian troops and Pakistani-backed invaders in 1999. Kalam, dubbed “missile man” for leading the scientific team which developed missiles to deliver India’s atomic warheads, landed at a high-security army airport in Srinagar, urban hub of a 15-year revolt against New Delhi’s rule. From there the silver-haired president, whose post is largely ceremonial, was whisked by army helicopter to Kargil. Kalam, who oversaw successful tests in 1998 that made India a nuclear power and turned him into a national hero, was also due to meet schoolchildren and inaugurate a museum inside the army’s headquarters compound in Srinagar. The visit by Kalam, a Muslim, will be his second in two years and comes less than a month after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited the region, saying he wished to “put an end to this chapter of violence in Kashmir.” Kashmir is at the heart of nearly six decades of hostility between India and Pakistan. Each hold part of the territory but claim it in full and have fought two wars over it. Full Story