India, Nov. 17 -- At a recent entrepreneurship event in Srinagar, a senior government official made a comment that silenced the room for a few seconds.

He said Kashmir is still twenty years behind in building a real start-up culture.

Advertisement ADVERTISEMENT It sounded casual, almost like a passing remark, but it hit the audience hard.

Discover more Athletic Buy vitamins and supplements Apple’s AI AI technology Siri Education Computer iPhone Sports SPORT Many young founders, mentors, and incubators sat there wondering what this gap truly means and why it still exists despite the noise around innovation.

The remark pushed everyone to think beyond the buzzwords.

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