HM Shah Chairs High-Level Meeting To Review Security Situation In J-K Ahead Of Amarnath Yatra

Jammu: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday night chaired a meeting here to review the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir and arrangements for the annual Amarnath Yatra, officials said.

"Chaired a review meeting for the Amarnath Pilgrimage and evaluated the security arrangements and preparedness meant for the pilgrims. Instructed to maintain the utmost vigilance and ensure the seamless completion of the sacred journey," Amit Shah posted on X. He added that the Central Government and the J&K administration would "leave no stone unturned to facilitate the pilgrims with all necessary facilities".

The meeting was attended by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Army Chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi, the Union Home Secretary, Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, and heads of various paramilitary forces, police, and intelligence agencies. The annual Amarnath Yatra begins on July 3 this year.

Earlier, Shah was received at the airport here by LG Sinha, Union Minister Jitendra Singh, Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Kumar Choudhary, Chief Secretary Dulloo, and senior BJP leaders. The LG presented him with a picture of Mata Vaishno Devi.

After an overnight stay in Jammu, Shah will fly to Poonch on Friday to interact with families affected by Pakistani shelling. He will also visit damaged religious places, including the Singh Sabha Gurdwara, and hold a meeting with officers to assess the damage in the worst-hit district, the officials said.

The home minister will also visit the Border Security Force (BSF) camp in Poonch and interact with the jawans. He will address civilians affected by Pakistani shelling at Dak Bungalow in Poonch and BSF personnel at their unit headquarters in Khanetar.

He is likely to distribute appointment letters to the next of kin of civilians killed in the shelling before returning to Delhi, the officials said. This is the home minister’s third visit to J&K since April 6, and the first after Indian armed forces struck terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on May 7 in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 people, mostly tourists, dead.

After a three-day tour beginning on April 6, Shah again visited Kashmir on April 23, a day after the Pahalgam attack.