Seeing the chequered past of the place, the government is also keeping in mind the safety aspect in developing Kargil as a tourist destination.

'In order to ensure the safety and security of tourists, the tourism ministry has advised all the state government and union territory administrations to deploy tourist police at tourist destinations and also circulated guidelines for formation of tourist security organisation comprising ex-servicemen,' Selja told parliament in a written reply.

Kargil and Drass shot into headlines in the summer of 1999 when armed intruders backed by Pakistan captured the frigid peaks on the Indian side of the Line of Control dividing Kashmir. This lead to a military skirmish and brought India and Pakistan on the brink of their fourth full scale war.