SubscriberWrites: How Modi’s railway to Kashmir buried the last remnants of separatism

For long, Pakistan pushed the narrative of a disgruntled, contested Kashmir—this train shatters that illusion, decimation after decimation.

The trial run of the Vande Bharat Express train was successfully completed in Srinagar on 25 January | ANI

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In the chronicles of modern India, 6th June 2025 shall no longer be just a date—it will be remembered as the day when the Indian Republic closed its last strategic and civilisational loop. As the Vande Bharat Express glides through the valleys of Kashmir and halts with disciplined grace at Budgam, it carries with it more than passengers. It carries a century’s worth of history, justice, and strategic triumph. What begins as a train journey is, in truth, a movement of monumental symbolism: Kashmir is no longer on the edge of the Republic. Kashmir is now at the heart of it.

This is not just a train. This marks the end of 78 years of silence. It’s a physical, emotional and tactical coming-together. An evidence that Kashmir is not an idea being argued upon anymore – it is a territory which is progressing, safeguarded, and without a doubt, under India.

Like many other engineering marvels in India, the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Line is also unique in its own way. Its 272km length includes 943 bridges, 36 tunnels (one of which is T-50; India’s longest) and the world’s highest railway bridge. Yet there is something deeper about this intersection. It simultaneously nails the coffin on Pakistan’s fabricated story. For the longest time, India’s enemy and their supporters from within relied on the narrative that Kashmir was disgruntled, disconnected, and fiercely contested—this train undoes that fantasy decimation after decimation.

For over seven decades, Pakistan’s military-intelligence complex treated Kashmir not just as a region but as a weapon—a bleeding frontier through which they launched a thousand cuts. The valley became ground zero for a hybrid war: from radicalising youth, planting proxies, to creating a permanent fog of ‘dispute’ on international platforms. But that fog has now been pierced by the electric beams of India’s Vande Bharat. Pakistan cannot call Kashmir disputed when India is driving through it—literally.

Pakistan did not realize something that Prime Minister Modi clearly understood. National unity is not built with flags and slogans. It is constructed with systems, respect, opportunity, and sustenance. With the abrogation of Article 370, Modi removed the constitutional fantasy that fostered separatism. Now, with this train, he has demolished the ultimate mental hurdle– the belief that Kashmir is some place frozen in time, waiting to make a decision. Not any longer. Kashmir has decided. And that decision is India.

It is not politics but rather statecraft at its finest. It is what one calls effective and visionary governance. India has not only governed Kashmir; it has transformed its fate entirely. With the G20 being held in Srinagar, the region has seen global investment, the extermination of terror activities and a remarkable surge in tourism, all of which serve as testaments to the relentless change. Under the prood of Narendra Modi, the transformation of Kashmir has been nothing short of astonishing, undoable and superb.

But every transformative moment has its local guardian. And in Kashmir’s rebirth, that figure is Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha. With a style that is quiet yet bold, grounded yet visionary, Sinha has rebuilt the spine of the Valley. Under his leadership, stone-pelters have turned into sportsmen, former OGW’s into micro-entrepreneurs, and once-blacklisted villages into torchbearers of Tiranga rallies. The arrival of the train into Budgam is not a standalone event—it is the culmination of a political, emotional, and strategic revival that has been unfolding for the last five years under his stewardship.

Its beauty is woven into the subtlety of the achievement. This is not annexing Kashmir; this is assimilating it. Not by swords, but by railways. Not by military might, but by military movement. Each and every railway station from Katra to Baramullah is now a national landmark, proudly marking the journey toward greater oneness. What was once the starting point for Pakistan’s terroristic arms dealing and anti-Indian sentiments is now a hub for Indian tourism, commerce, and innovation.

Let there be no confusion: this is a deathblow to Pakistan’s Kashmir project. No resolution, no plebiscite, no international forum can undo what India has just done. With this railway line, India has not only secured geographical continuity but achieved what no speech at the UN ever could—a living, breathing, running declaration of unity. A 272-km long declaration that says: “This is India, complete and indivisible.”

The strategic consequences are multidimensional. Military logistics are quicker and more efficient throughout the entire year. Border protection, rapid response, troop deployment, and reinforcements have achieved an unparalleled efficiency that defies enemy opposition. However, of greater significance, this railway has built fortifications against the hostile terrain that had been abused by infiltration and terror cells for years. What was difficult to access is now such well monitored and rapidly accessible construction India has put Kashmir under that surveillance. Kashmir is no longer a weak point for India, rather, it has become India’s claim to might and power.

There could not be a more poetic phrase. A train—the most exemplary symbol of transit, both of motion, and of travel– arrives in a region where there used to be limitations on movement, and where togetherness was debated. As I have said before, this train does not simply reach Budgam,rather it announces India’s arrival in the Valley as a force of peace, purpose, and permanence.

To the youth of Kashmir, it sends a message: your tomorrow will not be written by militants hiding across borders or by agents of chaos lurking in shadows. It will be written by you—boarding the train, carrying your dreams to Delhi, to Mumbai, to every corner of the nation that now belongs to you in full measure.

And to the world, it sends a diplomatic thunderclap: India does not beg for approval. It builds reality. Kashmir is not up for discussion—it is on schedule.

What began in 1947 with a signature of accession now ends with the signature of a train horn. What was once an emotional question is now a logistical fact. What was once a zone of ambiguity is now a zone of achievement.

Ultimately, the issue isn’t simply Kashmir. This is the account of India rediscovering its pulse. Of citizens who will not leave their kind behind. Of a government that is unfazed by harsh landscapes, criticism, or history. And a country that always was certain, the mountains could one day be crossed—not merely in optimism, but with fortitude.

And now they have been.

Mudasir Dar is a social and peace activist based in South Kashmir. He is a Rashtrapati Award recipient in world scouting and has contributed to many local and national publications on a diverse range of topics, including national security, politics, governance, peace, and conflic

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