Indian PM arrives in Kashmir on maiden visit

NEW DELHI - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Leh of Kashmir for the first time on Tuesday.

Modi will be meeting Indian Army personnel besides inaugurating two hydro-power projects and laying a foundation stone for the 349- km Leh-Srinagar transmission line.

The transmission line will connect the Ladakh region with the country's northern grid and ultimately solve the electricity woes of the energy starved Leh and Kargil districts.

The prime minister will inaugurate the Chutak hydro-electric power project in Kargil and Nimoo Bazgo project in Leh district.

BJP bagged the Ladakh parliamentary constituency for the first time this year when its candidate Thupstan Chhewang won the seat by a slender margin of 36 votes.

The Prime Minister, who will be accompanied by Union power minister Piyush Goyal and national security adviser Ajit Doval, is received at the airport in Leh by state governor NN Vohra and chief minister Omar Abdullah besides senior ministers.

BJP leaders Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Avinash Rai Sharma have been camping here for the last two days ahead of Modi's visit to overlook the arrangements for the Public meetings being addressed by him.

He is addressing a public rally in the local Polo Ground and also one in Kargil town later today.

Army chief Dalbir Singh Suhag is camping in Leh to receive the prime minister who is scheduled to address airmen and soldiers here.