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J&K prepares for Kalam's visit
Onkar Singh in Srinagar |
June 18, 2003 18:23 IST
The entire Jammu and Kashmir government has been pressed into service for the three-day visit of President A P J Abdul Kalam beginning June 26.
Kalam will be going to a location on the Line of Control in north Kashmir, in possibly the first ever visit by a President to a forward post in J&K.
He is likely to meet people, who have been victims of unprovoked shelling by Pakistani troops from across the border.
Governor Lt General (retd) S K Sinha is personally supervising all the arrangements in consultation with Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
In fact, Sinha has moved to Jammu and has been visiting various places to familiarise himself with the situation. The state police is making elaborate security arrangements for the President.
But there is some confusion about whether the President will go to Leh. His official schedule does not mention a visit to Leh, but a top police official told rediff.com that Kalam would be visiting Leh on June 27.
President Kalam will arrive in Jammu on June 26, and not on June 25 as expected earlier. He will present colours to the Jammu and Kashmir police at the Udhampur Police Academy before addressing the convocation of the Jammu University.
Kalam will spend the night at Raj Bhavan in Jammu and the next morning, June 27, he will, according to a top police official of the state, fly to Leh for a couple of functions and later in the evening reach Srinagar and spend the night there.
"The President's schedule in Srinagar is very tight and there are at least ten meetings back- to-back. The President will also visit a couple of places in the valley, but because of security reasons the media will not be told in advance about it," said a top government functionary.
Kalam will fly back to Delhi on June 28.