Srinagar, May 18 -- By Lt Gen. R. S. Reen (Retd.)

Ten days on the road changed the way I look at Jammu and Kashmir.

I travelled through Mumbai, several state capitals, major metros and Navi Mumbai's industrial belt. Every stop revealed a country moving with astonishing speed.

Tower cranes filled the skyline, metro lines cut through dense neighbourhoods, technology parks hummed late into the night, and construction crews worked with purpose and precision.

India looked like a nation convinced that the future belongs to those who build it first.

Mumbai captured this transformation most clearly. New skyscrapers rise 80 or 100 floors into the sky. The Bandra Kurla Complex has turned into a global business district where Indian conglomerat...