After scrapping of Article 370 , first international event G20 Summit is going to be held at Sher-e-Kashmir International Conventional Centre (SKICC) on the banks of the Dal Lake,Kashmir from May 22-24.
Previously China skipped G20 meeting held at Arunachal Pradesh in March 2023. It is speculated that China's decision to not attend G20 summit is linked with its close association with Pakistan while Turkey has condemned India's way of handling situations in Kashmir.
Although India has dismissed objections from Pakistan over the holding of G20 meetings in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, saying such events are being organised in all states and union territories ahead of the summit in New Delhi in September.
It is unclear whether president of Indonesia would attend the summit, who was again the last president of G20. According to sources, some other countries ( members of G20 and guest countries) as invited by India would have a low level partaking in the summit. It is likely to be assumed that these countries would send their diplomats from embassy in place of officials from respective capitals of the countries ( Saudi Arabia and Mexico).
There will be a display of handicrafts and arts of Kashmir during a session at SKICC and a cultural event for which artists from different parts of the union territory have completed rehearsals.
The commissioner secretary for tourism, Abid Rashid, said the meeting will be used to encourage member countries to lift their travel advisories on Kashmir. “There will be officers from countries that have issued negative travel advisories. I hope they will consider lifting these advisories after the event,” he said.
Special emphasis is being laid on security for the venue and review meetings are being held daily by top officials of security agencies. Security has also been enhanced for two top hotels in Srinagar where the delegates will stay. The delegates may visit the ski resort of Gulmarg, though officials said a final call is yet to be made about the trip due to security concerns.
