G-20 summit begins today: Jammu and Kashmir all decked-up for meet

Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Chief Coordinator G20, said India is halfway through its G20 presidency and so far 118 meetings have been held across the country.

Srinagar/Hyderabad: Jammu and Kashmir are all decked-up to host the first G-20 summit which begins today. The meet, which is the first global event there since August 5, 2019, when the Centre scrapped the special status of the valley, assumes significance from an Indian perspective. The Centre's priority is to project normalcy in the valley, which has been put under a tight security blanket.

As many as 60 delegates from the member countries of G20 are going to attend the meeting, officials said and added that the highest number of delegates for the Srinagar event are coming from Singapore. Chief Coordinator G20, Harsh Vardhan Shringla said India is halfway through its G-20 presidency and so far 118 meetings were across the country. There are also delegates from special invitee guest countries who are attending the meeting. China has opposed the holding of a G-20 meeting in Kashmir, while Saudi Arabia has not registered for the event. Turkey has decided to stay away from the Srinagar meeting.

Meanwhile, the J&K administration has made a last-minute change in the itinerary by dropping the sightseeing visits to the Dachigam National Park, Srinagar, and tourist hotspot Gulmarg in north Kashmir, due to security reasons. During a press conference on Sunday, Harsh Shringla reiterated that even as some member countries including China decided to stay away, the G20 Tourism Working Group meeting in Srinagar has the highest delegate participation compared to previous such meetings. "The representation in this working group is maximum. Such participation was not seen in earlier meetings. This is a matter of pride for us that this meeting is being held in such a beautiful place", he added.

"China firmly opposes holding G20 meetings in any form in disputed areas and will not attend such meetings," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Friday. India took umbrage over China's remark and countered the objection by saying it is free to hold meetings on its own territory. Ahead of the meeting, Srinagar is under an unprecedented security blanket. Marine commandos and national security guards have been deployed as part of the ground-to-air security cover.

In view of the meeting, a vigil has also been increased along the International Border and LoC. Special nakas have also been set up at identified places on the Pathankot-Jammu and Jammu-Poonch and Jammu-Srinagar-Ganderbal National Highways. Around 600 police officers and personnel in plain clothes have been deployed at the conference venue, airport and other important places. Vigilance from land, water and skyThe venue of the conference has been taken over by commandos of NSG and Special Operations Group (SOG) of Jammu and Kashmir Police, while commandos of CRPF's Water Wing and Navy's MARCOS squad are continuously patrolling Dal Lake in their boats. An anti-drone system has also been installed and the convention venue has been made a no-flying zone. To deal with any danger, vigilance is being done from land, water and sky.

First major global event since 1986

This is the first major international event of its kind after 1986 in Jammu and Kashmir. New Delhi often blames Pakistan for hatching a conspiracy at the international level to make this conference a failure. Terrorist organisations have also threatened attacks not only in Srinagar but also in other parts of the state during the conference. The security agencies have also foiled a plan being hatched to carry out a terror attack in Gulmarg during the conference.