Nirmala Sitharaman begins two-day J-K visit

SRINAGAR: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today arrived here on a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir during which she would review the security situation along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Valley and Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh region.

Sitharaman, accompanied by Army chief General Bipin Rawat, arrived here this morning on her maiden visit to the state and straightaway went to Kupwara sector in north Kashmir for an on-ground assessment of the situation along the LoC, defence sources said.

The sources said senior army officials would brief the defence minister about the overall situation in the Valley, including counter-insurgency and counter-infiltration operations, upon her return from Kupwara.

Sitharaman is scheduled to meet Governor N N Vohra and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti later in the day, they said.

She is scheduled to visit Ladakh region tomorrow where she would take stock of the situation along the LAC, the sources said.

They said Sitharaman might either visit Siachen Base camp or carry out an aerial tour of the glacier which is known as the highest battlefield in the world.

The Siachen leg of the visit would depend on the weather conditions, they added.