SRINAGAR, Feb. 21 -- National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the railway ministry on Tuesday for launching new rail projects for Jammu and Kashmir.

"This is a big step by the Railway Ministry and Prime Minister Modi and we welcome this initiative. (We) congratulate them on achieving this milestone," Abdullah, who is the Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar, said about the flagging off of new trains between Sangaldan in the Jammu division and Baramulla in the Kashmir valley.

He said the rail link will connect Kashmir with the rest of the country as highway closures used to be a big challenge for Kashmiris.

"Also, the stocks that would go from here used to get stuck on the Jammu-Srinagar na...