India holds G20 meeting in disputed Kashmir amid tight security

Delegates from the Group of 20 countries attended the second day of meetings on tourism amid tight security in India-administered-Kashmir on Tuesday.

It is the first high profile event held in Kashmir since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government stripped the Muslim-majority region of its semi-autonomy in 2019.

New Delhi is portraying the gathering as a return to normality in the northern region, which is plagued by violence.

India is presiding over the group this year, which includes both developing and developed nations. It is hosting more than 200 meetings across the country.

The three-day Kashmir event is hosting discussions around ecotourism, destination management and promoting tourism.

The meeting in Kashmir’s capital Srinagar holds political significance for India.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan. It joined India in 1947, soon after the subcontinent was divided up at the end of British rule.

The neighbours have fought several wars over it.

A decades-long armed rebellion against New Delhi’s rule has left tens of thousands of people dead, with anti-India sentiments running high.

New Delhi accuses Islamabad of training and arming extremists, a charge denied by Pakistan.

A portion of the former Himalayan kingdom also remains under China’s control.

Mr Modi’s government has argued that the reclaiming Kashmir has ended “terrorism” in the contested region and brought peace, as well as investment opportunities.

But the meeting has been condemned by Pakistan and officially boycotted by China which says that it would not attend the meeting in a “disputed territory”.

Several other G20 member states, such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Indonesia and Egypt, have also not attended.

Last week, Fernand de Varennes, the UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, said the Indian government was “seeking to normalise what some have described as a military operation by instrumentalising a G20 meeting” in a region where fears of human rights violations and violence are rife.

Kashmir remains one of the most militarised regions in the world. Around 500,000 Indian armed personnel are deployed in the region.

Thousands of security officers – including elite naval commandos – have been deployed in recent days for the event at a convention centre on the banks of the famous Dal Lake.

Authorities ordered several schools in the capital city to close during the event.

They intensified security over fears of extremist attacks and public protests.

The government said the meeting focuses on deliberations on the tourism working group – which include a road map for tourism as a vehicle for achieving sustainable development goals.

Authorities are also focusing on strategies to promote film tourism in the valley.

The Kashmir valley is known for its natural beauty, enjoying cool weather surrounded by the snow-capped Himalayas. It was a popular filming location before extremism gripped the region in the 1990s.

Tourism is an important industry and contributes about seven per cent to Kashmir’s economy. It was severely affected following the annulment of its semi-autonomous status and the Covid-19 lockdowns.

Dr Jitendra Singh, the junior minister for Science and Technology who opened the event, said the G20 meeting will help build confidence among the locals and promote tourism.

“In Kashmir, within a radius of a few kilometres, you have fountains, lakes, plateaus, hillocks, snow-clad peaks,” said Mr Singh.

“I am sure this is going to open up. The confidence building has also happened because of the very successful tourist season we had recently.

“This is an indication of the fact that now Jammu and Kashmir as a whole and the Kashmir Valley, which a few years ago was believed to be a kind of a nerve centre of terrorism and Pak-sponsored militancy, is now in the same streamline of activity as any other city in the country,” he added.