Saudi Arabia will not attend the G20 meeting in Kashmir to avoid any controversy since the country considers the region as a disputed territory. Saudi Arabia will be represented by its travel industry representative at the meeting. With this, Saudi Arabia has joined countries like Turkey, China, and Egypt.
While China skipped the meeting due to the objection by its close ally Pakistan on holding the 20-nation meeting in Kashmir, Turkey has criticised India’s handling of the Kashmir issue in the past. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin also said last week that China was opposed to holding any form of G20 meetings on “disputed territory”.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry called India’s move to hold the G20 meeting in Kashmir “irresponsible”. Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said earlier that New Delhi was showing a stubborn attitude with regards to holding the G20 meeting in J&K.
Meanwhile, G20 chief coordinator Harshvardhan Shringla on Sunday said the three-day meeting from May 22-24 will see impressive participation of foreign delegates compared to the previous meetings.
Shringla told reporters at the time: “Our experience is that in any working group meeting, to get such a large turnout of delegates not only from G20 countries but also from international organisations that are part of the G20 is an incredible process”.
First-ever international event in J&K since abrogation of Article 370
60 foreign delegates arrived on Monday in J&K for the meeting. This is the first international event held in Kashmir ever since Article 370 was abrogated in August 2019, leading to bifurcation of the erstwhile state of J&K into union territories—Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
G20 in Srinagar: Security arrangements, traffic updates
The third G20 tourism working group committee meeting started in Srinagar on Monday amid elaborate security arrangements. The J&K traffic police said in its recent tweet that Mughal road is still closed. J&K Traffic Police tweeted: “Traffic update 0800 hrs. Traffic plying on NH-44, SSG road. People are advised to follow lane discipline. Mughal road is still closed”.
Ram Charan at G20 meeting on film tourism
A big focal point of the G20 meeting on Monday was Telugu superstar Ram Charan attending the G20 discussion on film tourism. During the course of this discussion, the RRR star talked about his connection with Jammu and Kashmir since childhood and also dropped a hint about his Hollywood debut.
The superstar said Kashmir is the most beautiful place to shoot a film in India. He also remembered his trips to the valley with his father. Ram Charan also performed the Naatu Naatu hookstep with the G20 delegates.
(With inputs from Geeta Mohan)
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