More Than Tourism: Kashmir's Revival and India's External Messaging

In the years following the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, tourism in Jammu and Kashmir has become more than an economic success story-it has emerged as an important component of India's external messaging on Kashmir. By highlighting record tourist arrivals, hosting international events, and promoting investment in the region, New Delhi has increasingly used tourism to reinforce its narrative of stability, integration, and normalisation before international audiences. This diplomatic significance has grown at a time when Kashmir remains one of South Asia's most closely watched geopolitical flashpoints, where perceptions of stability carry strategic as well as economic value. Against this backdrop, the region's tourism revival has frequently been presented as evidence of a return to normalcy. Yet the credibility of this narrative ultimately depends on whether rising visitor numbers can sustain broader claims of lasting political and security normalisation. 

Following the constitutional changes of 2019, New Delhi faced the challenge of defending its Kashmir policy amid sustained international scrutiny. Alongside diplomatic engagement, the government increasingly highlighted tangible indicators of stability including improved infrastructure, economic activity, and, most visibly, tourism-to reinforce its position that the region was returning to normalcy. Tourism proved particularly suited to this role because, unlike broader economic indicators, it offers an easily understood and highly visible measure of public confidence. Rising visitor numbers therefore became more than an economic statistic; they helped project an image of Kashmir as stable, accessible, and increasingly integrated with the rest of India. This narrative was reinforced through initiatives such as the G20 Tourism Working Group meeting held in Srinagar in May 2023, the first G20 event hosted in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370. The event signalled New Delhi's confidence in presenting the region as stable and open to international engagement, while record tourist arrivals, investments in tourism infrastructure, improved connectivity, and sustained promotional campaigns collectively strengthened the image of Kashmir as a destination for both visitors and investors. Together, these initiatives enabled tourism to function not merely as an economic achievement but as a strategic component of India's broader diplomatic messaging on Kashmir. 

Tourism occupies a distinctive place in diplomatic messaging because it combines economic performance with international visibility. Unlike indicators such as GDP growth or employment figures, tourist arrivals are immediately observable and easily understood by foreign audiences. The diplomatic utility of tourism is reflected in Jammu and Kashmir's recent trajectory, where tourist arrivals increased from 18.8 million in 2022 to over 21.1 million in 2023, before reaching a record 23.5 million in 2024. India's effort to reshape international perceptions through these developments has been met with a mixed response. While several countries have continued to deepen engagement with India without making Kashmir a central point of bilateral relations, international media, multilateral organisations, and human rights groups have continued to scrutinise developments in the region, particularly on issues relating to civil liberties, political representation, and security. At the same time, the G20 Tourism Working Group meeting in Srinagar proceeded despite objections from Pakistan and China, with delegates from most participating countries attending the event. This demonstrated that, although competing narratives on Kashmir persist internationally, many states were willing to engage with India without allowing those differences to disrupt broader diplomatic cooperation. Consequently, the event reflected India's growing diplomatic confidence in presenting Kashmir as an integral part of its international engagements. Tourism, therefore, has not displaced international debate over Kashmir, but it has broadened the diplomatic space in which India advances its own narrative. In this sense, rising tourist arrivals and international events serve not only as indicators of economic activity but also as instruments through which India advances an alternative framing of Kashmir before the international community. 

Despite its diplomatic value, tourism remains an imperfect indicator of lasting normalisation. While rising visitor numbers, international events, and infrastructure development have strengthened India's external messaging on Kashmir, they cannot by themselves resolve the political and security questions that continue to influence international perceptions of the region. The April 2025 Pahalgam terrorist attack, which targeted tourists and received extensive global media coverage, demonstrated how quickly a single security incident can challenge a narrative built over years of economic and tourism gains. In its aftermath, widespread booking cancellations, heightened security measures, and renewed international attention to Kashmir underscored how rapidly confidence in the region could be disrupted, highlighting the strategic importance that tourism had come to occupy in India's projection of normalcy. Similarly, international discourse on Kashmir continues to be shaped by broader geopolitical, security, and diplomatic considerations that extend beyond tourism statistics or investment figures. Tourism has expanded India's capacity to project an image of stability and recovery, but its effectiveness as a diplomatic instrument ultimately depends on whether developments on the ground consistently reinforce the narrative it seeks to convey.