![Asif (21) and Arif (25) from Achoora village, Gurez Valley, harness the power of the internet to showcase and celebrate its untamed beauty. Photo: Umar Altaf](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/04/02/e2012d2a-42dd-45d7-80c4-9b852627e4d5_d3ccc107.jpg)
Once a Silk Road connector to China and Central Asia, valley in Kashmir aims to milk internet and air connections
Asia travel- In Indian Kashmir bordering China and Central Asia, Gurez, once a stop on the Silk Road, has been reinventing itself since going online and gaining an air transport service
Once upon a time, the Gurez Valley was on the Silk Road connecting Kashmir with China and Central Asia.
Trading posts such as this were melting pots where merchants, traders, scholars, and travellers interacted and exchanged goods, and ideas.
Silk Road outposts like Gurez declined in importance with the discovery of sea routes in the 17th century.
With the Partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, Gurez ended up on the Indian side of the border. Subsequent India-Pakistan conflict and the resultant border restrictions have had lasting consequences for the region’s economy, culture and society.
![Abdul Salam Lone, 53, fetches winter feed for his cattle in Chorwan in the Gurez Valley. The temperature can fall to minus 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit) there in winter. Photo: Umar Altaf Abdul Salam Lone, 53, fetches winter feed for his cattle in Chorwan in the Gurez Valley. The temperature can fall to minus 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit) there in winter. Photo: Umar Altaf](https://img.i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/04/02/70f4c958-afee-402f-a23d-3b97047c1892_064e2530.jpg)
![](https://assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/_next/static/media/wheel-on-gray.af4a55f9.gif)
Post
Advertisement