Roving Periscope: With G-20 meet in J&K, India stamps fait accompli against Pak propaganda
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: For the first time after scrapping Article 370 of the Constitution and abrogating the border state’s “special status” in August 2019, India’s holding of the Third Tourism Working Group meeting of G-20 nations in Srinagar has stamped the fait accompli of its being an inalienable part of the country.
Pakistan, which is not a G-20 member, has been trying to sabotage the event.
Srinagar is hosting the three-day event amid tight security from May 22 to 24. This is the first such international event in the region after the Centre revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and stripped it of its statehood.
A glittering facelift has been given to Srinagar and roads leading to the main venue, the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Center (SKICC).
India is halfway through its G-20 presidency and, so far, 118 meetings have been held across the country, said former Foreign Secretary Harshavardhan Shringla, Chief Coordinator of G-20, adding the Srinagar meeting has received the highest number of participants compared to two earlier tourism meetings.
Nearly 60 delegates from the member countries of the G-20 are attending the meeting. The highest number of delegates for this event has come from Singapore. Special invitees from guest countries are also attending.
Ironically, China, which is constructing the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) through the Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK) is boycotting the G-20 meeting in J&K, claiming it is a “disputed” territory. Saudi Arabia and Turkey, sympathizers of Islamabad, are also keeping away.
India countered the Chinese claims by saying it is free to hold meetings on its own territory, and that peace and tranquility on its border are essential for normal ties with China.
Ahead of the meeting, an unprecedented security apparatus has been set up in Jammu and Kashmir in general and Srinagar in particular. Marine commandos and anti-drone units have been activated and National Security Guards (NSGs) have been deployed at sensitive places and installations in the summer capital of the Union Territory as part of the ground-to-air security cover.
Thousands of troops from the Indian Army, Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), and Jammu and Kashmir Police are part of the security grid, amid reports that terrorists may try to disrupt the G-20 event.
Police have issued traffic advisories, directing that no traffic will be allowed to move on Srinagar’s boulevard road. It has also restricted traffic movement on the route used by G-20 delegates. Shopkeepers in the Lal Chowk area have been issued special passes to keep their shops open.
Prior to the meeting, a massive facelift was given to Srinagar City and the road from Srinagar Airport to SKICC.
Under the Srinagar Smart City project, footpaths and roads were given a new look. The Jhelum Riverfront was renovated with the laying of concrete footpaths, and Polo View market, Srinagar’s best shopping place, was given a glittering facelift. The G-20 delegates could also visit it, which has become a postcard of the smart city project.
Srinagar’s G-20 meeting is expected to boost tourism and receive more investments in J&K, which is already receiving a large number of domestic and foreign tourists, said Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha on Saturday last week.
