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Blessed with abundant natural beauty, tourism was the mainstay of Kashmir's economy. Once chock-a-block with tourists, Kashmir literally became a ghost state after militancy reared its head in 1989. Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's healing process and the nascent peace process between India and Pakistan has brought back tourists. The first seven months of the year has seen 3,348 foreign tourists against 1,343 for the whole of 2002.

Here, spectators watch with interest the Kashmir Open at the Royal Springs Golf Course on the banks of the Dal Lake in Srinagar.

Photograph: Ami Vitale/Getty Images