Global Courant 2023-05-22 13:18:00
srinagar, India – A meeting of the Group of 20 (G-20) tourism was set to begin Monday amid high security in Indian-administered Kashmir, with China and Pakistan condemning the holding of the event in the disputed area.
Muslim-majority Kashmir is a disputed region between New Delhi and Islamabad, which have claimed it entirely since their independence 75 years ago.
The Indian-controlled portion has been ravaged for decades by an insurgency seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan, with tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers and Kashmiri rebels killed in the conflict.
Police said last week security had been beefed up “to prevent any chance of a terrorist attack at the G-20 meeting,” the first diplomatic event in the territory since New Delhi withdrew its limited autonomy and took direct control in 2019 .
The three-day gathering takes place at a sprawling, well-guarded site on the banks of Dal Lake in Srinagar.
Roads leading to the site have recently been blackened and power poles have been lit up in the colors of India’s national flag to show what officials say is normality and peace in the region.
India promotes tourism in Kashmir, and by 2022 more than one million citizens visited it.
No Chinese delegates will attend the G-20 event.
India and its northern neighbor are locked in a military standoff along their largely undemarcated border in the Ladakh region.
Beijing also fully claims the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh as part of Tibet and considers Kashmir a disputed territory.
“China strongly opposes holding any form of G-20 meetings in disputed territory and will not attend such meetings,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters on Friday.
Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia are also reportedly not joining.
India holds the presidency of the G-20 for 2023 and has planned more than 100 meetings across the country.
China has already stayed away from events in both Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh.
