Suchetgarh

Popular for its Wagah-Attari-style structured parade by BSF personnel, the tourist village of Suchetgarh along the International Border on the outskirts of Jammu wears a deserted look these days.

The latest military conflict between India and Pakistan has dealt a body blow to the village, which opened for tourists for the first time in October 2021 as part of the government's border tourism promotion programme.

Stakeholders such as hotel and restaurant owners, shopkeepers and horse carriage operators are worried but also remain hopeful that the understanding between India and Pakistan to stop military actions would hold and play the role of a catalyst for the return of tourists and the accompanying hustle and bustle.

Indian Armed Forces carried out missile strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) on May 7 in retaliation against the Pahalgam attack in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed. Pakistan responded to the strikes with intense mortar and artillery shelling and drone attacks in Jammu and Kashmir and beyond before the two countries agreed on May 10 to stop the military actions.

"Tourist arrivals are at their lowest ebb in view of the recent border clashes. Hardly any tourist visited the zero line in the past week despite the ceasefire announcement," restaurant owner Sunil Kumar told PTI.

Suchetgarh's opened up as a tourist destination after India and Pakistan announced implementation of a renewed ceasefire agreement along the borders in Jammu and Kashmir in February 2021 that came as a major relief to people living along the International Border and the Line of Control (LoC).

India shares a 3,323-kilometre-long border with Pakistan. Of this, 221 kilometres of the International Border and 744 kilometres of the LoC fall in Jammu and Kashmir.

India and Pakistan had initially signed a ceasefire agreement in 2003 but the neighbouring country frequently violated it, with more than 5,000 violations reported in 2020 -- the highest in a single year.

The introduction of the Wagah-Attari-style ceremony, comprising a structured parade by Border Security Force (BSF) personnel on weekends, proved a major attraction for tourists from within and outside Jammu and Kashmir.

The BSF suspended the parade last week following the clashes.

"Earlier, our restaurant used to be packed… Especially on weekends, during the BSF's beating retreat ceremony, our sales touched Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000. Now, we are hardly earning Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 as people have stopped coming after the Pakistani shelling," Kumar said.

He said they were expecting the revival of border tourism once the situation eased and normality returned.

Mahendra Lal, who runs a tea and sweets shop in the area, said the situation was equally grim for him.

"Our work has come to a standstill and we have stopped manufacturing sweets, including the famous milk cake, owing to a lack of tourists… We used to sell sweets, unlike Pakistan, which is distributing poison," he said. "We only hope that Pakistan shows some wisdom and strengthens peace for better relations."

Teja Singh, who offers horse carriage rides to tourists around the zero line, said his weekend business used to thrive before the recent military standoff.

"Now, the carriages stand idle. No one comes to see the zero line anymore. We are praying that tourists start returning so our livelihood can be restored," said Singh, a local.

A tourism department official said they were monitoring the situation on the borders and expressed hope of a revival of border tourism in the coming weeks.

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"The situation along the borders has been peaceful over the past week owing to the ceasefire. We are taking necessary steps, including restarting the BSF parade, to attract tourists once there is permanent peace on the borders," he said.