The third G-20 Working Group Meeting on Tourism begins today Monday at Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian controlled Jammu and Kashmir.
Officials concerned said tight and stringent security arrangements have been put in place all over the Kashmir Valley to ensure that the high-profile event passes off peacefully, as reported by news agency PTI.
The route starting from Srinagar airport to Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC), which is the venue of the meeting, has been given a massive makeover with the G-20 logo painted on the walls. In addition to this, there were also hoardings installed to welcome the delegates, said the officials.
According to the officials, the Gulmarg tourist resort in north Kashmir has also been beautified as a meeting is scheduled to take place there too.
While speaking to news agency ANI, Kashmir Traders and Manufacturers Federation General Secretary Bashir Ahmad Kongposh, said, “This is very good news that the G20 tourism meeting is going to take place here in Srinagar.”
Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reports that close neighbouring countries China and Pakistan are not attending the meeting.
China and Pakistan have both condemned India for holding the event in the Muslim-majority Kashmir, a region that has been disputed between New Delhi and Islamabad.
Both countries claim the region in its entirety but only govern parts of it. They have fought three wars since independence.
India, which holds the chair of G20 this year, has organised a series of meetings across the country in the run-up to the summit in New Delhi in September.
“China is firmly opposed to holding any kind of G20 meetings in disputed territory, and will not attend such meetings,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Friday.
India-Pakistan relations have been frozen since 2019 when New Delhi changed the status of Jammu and Kashmir state, ended its special status and converted it into a federal territory.
It split the state to create the two federal territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. A large chunk of Ladakh is under Chinese control.
The Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir has been roiled for decades by a rebellion seeking independence or merger with Pakistan, with tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers and Kashmiri rebels killed in the conflict.
Ties between New Delhi and Beijing have also been strained since a military clash in Ladakh in 2020 in which 24 soldiers were killed.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the relationship between the nuclear-armed neighbours can only be based on mutual respect, sensitivity and interest, in comments that mark a rare articulation of New Delhi’s position since ties with Beijing deteriorated in 2020.
“India is fully prepared and committed to protecting its sovereignty and dignity,” Modi said in an interview with Nikkei Asia ahead of his visit to Japan to attend the G7 summit.
India has been promoting tourism in Kashmir and more than a million of its citizens visited last year.