About 60 delegates from G20 member states attend the meeting.
Srinagar:
Jammu and Kashmir will host the third meeting of the tourism working group of G20 countries in the capital Srinagar from today amid tight security. This is the first such international event in the region after the center revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and deprived it of state status in August 2019.
A glittering facelift has been given to parts of Srinagar city and roads leading to Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Center or SKICC, the venue for the G20 meeting.
Harsh Vardhan Shringla, chief coordinator of the G20, said India is halfway through its G20 presidency and 118 meetings have been held across the country so far.
He said that the meeting in Srinagar has received the highest number of participants compared to the previous two tourism meetings.
About 60 delegates from G20 member states attend the meeting. Officials say the largest number of delegates for the Srinagar event are from Singapore.
Delegates from specially invited host countries also attend the meeting.
China has opposed holding a G20 meeting in Kashmir, while Saudi Arabia has not signed up for the event. Turkey, it seems, has decided to stay away from the Srinagar meeting.
“China strongly opposes holding G20 meetings of any form in disputed areas and will not attend such meetings,” Wang Wenbin, spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, said on Friday.
India countered the objection saying it is free to hold meetings on its own territory. It said peace and tranquility at the border is essential for normal ties with China.
Before the meeting, Srinagar is under an unprecedented security blanket. Naval commandos and national security agents have been deployed as part of ground-to-air security.
Anti-drone units and state security personnel have been deployed in sensitive places and installations.
Thousands of troops from the Army, Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Jammu and Kashmir Police are part of the safety net amid reports that terrorists may be trying disrupting the G20 event in Kashmir.
The police has issued traffic advisories and no traffic is allowed on Srinagar boulevard road. There are also traffic restrictions on the route used by G20 delegates.
Shopkeepers in the Lal Chowk area have been issued special passes so that they can keep their shops open without any problems.
A massive facelift was given to parts of Srinagar city and the road from Srinagar airport to SKICC ahead of the meeting.
Under Srinagar smart city project, footpaths and roads have been given a new look. While Jhelum’s riverside was being renovated with the construction of concrete footpaths, Poloview Market, one of Srinagar’s best shopping areas, was getting a dazzling facelift. The four-lane road connection of the market is closed. It has now been laid with tiles and has become a pedestrian market.
As part of the sightseeing program, G20 delegates are also expected to visit the Poloview market, which has become a postcard of Srinagar’s smart city project.
Officials say the G20 meeting will boost tourism in Kashmir, which already receives a large number of domestic and foreign tourists.
The success of the upcoming meeting of the G-20 countries’ tourism working group will result in an increase in tourist influx and investment in Jammu and Kashmir, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said on Saturday.
