Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Dr Jitendra Singh said the G20 tourism working group meeting in Kashmir will “falsify the false narratives emanating from Kashmir.”
The three-day G20 Tourism Working Group meeting, which is being held from 22-24 May in Srinagar, is being boycotted by China, while Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey have skipped registration for the event.
J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, Union Ministers G Kishan Reddy and Dr Jitendra Singh and G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant participate in the third G20 Tourism Working Group meeting underway in Srinagar.
— ANI (@ANI) May 23, 2023
This is the second day of the 3-day meeting. pic.twitter.com/HoUoedHUwt
Overview
Union Tourism Minister G. Kishan Reddy and G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant received the delegates for the event. In his address at a side event on ‘Film Tourism for Economic Growth and Cultural Preservation,’ Reddy said, “The biggest aim of the government is now to revive film tourism not only in Kashmir but all over the country.”
At the same event, Singh said, “The youth of Kashmir is highly aspirational, forward-looking, can see enormous opportunities unfolded by PM Narendra Modi for the people of this country.”
“The event will falsify all the false narratives created by vested interests or by cynics or self-styled critics. The event is a moment of rejuvenation and reincarnation,” the minister remarked. He said that while calls for strikes were being issued from Pakistan and Srinagar, people do not heed such calls anymore.
Indian film actor K. Ram Charan and film critic and journalist Mayank Sharma also attended the event.
Addressed the Legislative Assembly of Azad Jammu & Kashmir. Reiterated Pakistan’s unstinted support to the Kashmir Cause. Underscored that steps like Srinagar G-20 meeting can neither validate the Indian occupation nor dampen the spirit of Kashmiri people. #KashmiriVoicesMatter pic.twitter.com/jQpCtitaQv
— BilawalBhuttoZardari (@BBhuttoZardari) May 22, 2023
Event Draws Flak, Security Tightened
The first two G20 working group meetings were held at Rann of Kutch, Gujarat and Siliguri, West Bengal. Amid reports of potential terrorist threats at the G20 meeting, security in the valley has been tightened, and Kashmir is under a three-tier security grid.
Jammu and Kashmir Police’s special operation group (SOG) has been deployed at various places to give security cover to prevent any incident.
India’s decision to host the event has received strong criticism from various fronts, including from the UN’s special rapporteur on minority issues, Fernand de Varenns, who said that the event was “lending support to attempts by India to normalize the brutal and repressive denial of democratic and other rights of Kashmiri Muslims and minorities.”
Expressing disapproval of the event, Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari visited Pakistan Occupied Kashmir on Monday and “Reiterated Pakistan’s unstinted support to the Kashmir cause.” Zardari said the Srinagar G20 meeting “cannot validate the Indian occupation”.
Meanwhile, the Chinese foreign ministry stated earlier that China would not be attending meetings in the disputed territory.
The G20 meeting is the first big event in the valley after the abrogation of Article 370, which stripped Jammu Kashmir of its special status and made it a union territory of India.