In a powerful signal, Dubai has signed an agreement to build infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir even as the Kashmir valley sees a resurgence in violence and targeted attacks against religious minorities and security forces. 
 
According to the agreement, Dubai will build infrastructure, including industrial parks, IT towers, multi-purpose towers, logistics centers, a medical college, and a specialty hospital.

The memorandum of understanding signed between the Jammu and Kashmir government and the Government of Dubai, part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is the first investment agreement by a foreign government in the sensitive region following the withdrawal of Kashmir’s autonomy and the division of the Muslim-majority state into two union territories directly ruled from New Delhi.
 
“This MoU gives out a strong signal to the entire world that the way India is transforming into a global power, Jammu & Kashmir is having a significant role into that as well,” India's Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said.

The groundwork for the MoU was prepared during the minister’s visit to Dubai between October 1-3 on the sidelines of the inauguration of the India pavilion at Dubai Expo 2020, India Today said. 
 
Experts point out the agreement is tacit acceptance of India’s position on the Kashmir issue by an important Gulf country. 

  "The world has started to recognize the pace (at) which Jammu and Kashmir is traversing on the development bandwagon," Goyal said in a statement. 

However, exact figures of investment have not been released so far. 

Nearly a dozen civilians were killed in the last few weeks, prompting hundreds of people, mostly workers from other states, to leave the valley. Many Kashmiri Hindus and Sikhs, who are minorities there, too have moved out. 

(SAM)