Asserting that picturesque Kashmir is a safe a tourist destination, Jammu and Kashmir government has welcomed visitors from Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations to experience the 'Paradise on Earth'.
"Our security situation is very stable, and it can be gauged from the fact that in 2011 we have had 2 million tourists; of them 70,000 were foreigners, including Saudi families," Farooq Shah, Director Tourism J and K said. Shah is part of a high-level delegation of tourism and culture ministers, government officials, bureaucrats, airline operators and tourism experts from different states of India currently visiting Saudi Arabia. "We are also known as the shopper's paradise because of our traditional hand-made goods, beautiful shawls and wonderful hand-woven carpets," Shah said. One of the reasons why tourists from Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries have avoided going to Kashmir is the security situation even though Kashmir is as safe as any place in the world