India increases restrictions in Kashmir ahead of separatist call for protest march

Authorities in the main city of Indian Kashmir tightened security ahead of Friday prayers after separatists called for a protest march.

Posters appeared this week in Srinagar, the Muslim-majority region’s main city, calling for a march to the office of the UN Military Observer Group for India and Pakistan, to protest against India’s revocation of Jammu and Kashmir state’s special autonomy.

The call by separatists seeking Kashmir’s secession from India was the first since that decision on August 5, which brought communication and travel restrictions in Kashmir. Some landlines were restored last week.

US President Donald Trump plans to discuss Kashmir when he meets Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of a G7 meeting in France this weekend, Reuters cited a senior US administration official as saying.