Prime Minister Modi
Narendra Modi waves to a crowd at a gathering after inaugurating a train on a new stretch of railway to the town of Katra, north-west of Jammu in 2014 Reuters/Mukesh Gupta

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Jammu and Kashmir on 19 April for a day-long visit to the only Muslim-majority state in India. The trip marks the right-wing Hindu leader's third official visit to the region, where he addressed a public rally.

Modi also addressed the fifth convocation of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University and formally inaugurated the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Narayana Superspeciality Hospital, as well as a sports complex. Katra is home to the Vaishno Devi Shrine, a temple dedicated to the Hindu goddess, which is visited by more than 10 million pilgrims every year.

Speaking at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Modi said: "This university is built though the contribution of so many pilgrims, many of whom came from far away places. Let's pledge that we will do something for the poor, because it was a poor pilgrim who contributed to building this university."

On 18 April the prime minister took to Twitter to express his joy at being able to visit Jammu and Kashmir and interact with the citizens. The region has been making headlines worldwide in recent weeks over violent clashes between security forces and protesters.

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