President Ram Nath Kovind will visit Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh from July 25 to 28, the first Indian presidential visit to both regions since they became union territories two years ago through a constitutional change. 

On July 26, President Kovid will pay homage to the fallen soldiers of the Indian Armed Forces on the 22nd anniversary of the Kargil War with Pakistan over Kashmir.

On July 27, he will address the 19th annual convocation of the University of Kashmir in Srinagar, an announcement from Rashtrapati Bhavan, the presidential palace, said. 

The visit of the Indian head of state will be more symbolic in nature to show that things are becoming increasingly normal in the region, almost two years after Jammu and Kashmir was stripped of its constitutional protection and its veneer of autonomy and Ladakh, a Buddhist majority region, was separated from Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir, on the ground that its developmental progress was being neglected. (SAM)