The three-strong flotilla had been due to sail on Friday from ports in Turkey with more than 5,000 tonnes of aid on board
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to hold a rally in main city of Kashmir on Thursday, on his first visit since the disputed region's semi-autonomy was cancelled in 2019.
Modi's government stripped the Muslim-majority territory of its special constitutional status, splitting the former state into two territories directly ruled from New Delhi. The move, widely welcomed across India, angered many in the densely militarised territory.
Rebels in the Himalayan region have waged an insurgency since 1989, seeking independence -- which occupies a smaller part the Kashmir region and, like India, claims it in full.
Thousands of armed police and paramilitary forces were deployed, and new checkpoints set up across Kashmir's main city Srinagar, where the Hindu nationalist leader is scheduled to address a public gathering around midday.
"Various development works will also be dedicated to the nation," Modi said in a statement on social media platform X ahead of the visit, including programmes "boosting the agro-economy" as well as tourism.
A government statement said Modi will also inaugurate infrastructure around the revered Muslim shrine of Hazratbal.
The visit comes ahead of India's national elections due by May, the first since the region lost its autonomy. The last local elections in Kashmir were held in 2014.
Modi's government claims New Delhi's direct rule of Kashmir brought about a new era of "peace and development" in the region, but critics and many residents say it heralded a drastic curtailment of civil liberties and press freedom.
Security forces on Thursday patrolled the streets, as well as in motorboats along the river that runs through Srinagar.
Most schools in the city are shut for the day, and the authorities have called on government employees to attend the rally.
Omar Abdulla, a former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, accused the government of organising buses to bring in crowds to attend the rally, alleging that "almost none" would be attending willingly.
ALSO READ:
The three-strong flotilla had been due to sail on Friday from ports in Turkey with more than 5,000 tonnes of aid on board
Cross-border shelling has killed at least 70 civilians, including children, rescue workers and journalists
Northeastern University in Boston says the action was taken after some protesters resorted to virulent anti-Semitic slurs
Alongside regional leaders, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will attend the meetings
The Argentinian's beauty got many looking for the 'fountain of youth': She can't be that old, Netizens say
A plea moved in court stated that no one is permitted to wear the official state institution outfit
The ruins in the middle of Pantabangan Dam in Nueva Ecija province are a tourist draw, even as the region swelters in extreme heat
Friday's polling will be held for 88 of the total 543 seats in the lower house or Lok Sabha of Parliament with 160 million people eligible to vote