India's Muslim-majority region of Kashmir was formally divided on Thursday, almost three months after losing its autonomy in a move that triggered violence and stoked tensions with arch-rival Pakistan.
The move, announced in early August when
India imposed a lockdown and sent in tens of thousands of extra troops, saw Jammu and Kashmir cease to be a state and split into two new administrative territories ruled directly from New Delhi.
Speaking next to a colossal statue of independence hero Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in his home state of Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday hailed a "bright future" for the blood-soaked Himalayan region.