It now seems that British insurance companies are finally starting to give cover to tourists who are wishing to visit Kashmir. Earlier, the insurance companies in the UK were not giving any cover to British tourists to this area due to the advisory issues by the country. J&K tourism minister, Nawang Rigzin Jora, said that this shows some kind of softening on the British stand.

Many western countries have issued travel advisories to their citizens not to visit Kashmir after the abduction of six foreign tourists by Al Faran, a shadow outfit of Harkat ul Mujahideen near Pahalgam in July of 1995. This caused a lot of problems for Kashmir.

Militants later beheaded one foreign tourist, Norwegian Hans Ostro. However, American John Chides managed to escape. Fates of four other tourists, including American Donald Fred Hutchings, Britons Paul Well and Keith Mangan, and German Dirk Hasert remain a mystery to this day. However, many fear the worst for them.

It has been almost 20 years since militancy erupted in J&K, and all of this time these happenings played a big role in how tourism to this area was carried out. The state government is trying its best to convince foreign diplomats to withdraw their advisories. The state government had hosted a golf tournament for diplomats from 25 Commonwealth nations last October. The subtext was to convince people to withdraw their advisories against the area.

Although it seems that the UK could be softening on the matter, it is not yet known if other countries are going to lift their advisories to the area. Although it has been 20 years, to some people the events are still fresh in their minds.