India’s presidency of the G20 group was mired in embarrassment on Monday, as it began a meeting on tourism in Srinagar amid boycott by China and Saudi Arabia and a very low-level participation from many other friends of Pakistan.
China already opposed the May 22-24 Working Group meet on Tourism in the internationally recognised disputed territory while other key members, including Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Mexico, also avoided a full-fledged participation in the event.
The three-day gathering is taking place at a well-guarded complex on the shores of Dal Lake in Srinagar. With the meeting, New Delhi had hoped to project an image of normalcy in the disputed territory, according to several media reports.
The meeting began amid clampdown in sensitive areas of the summer capital of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
Soldiers and armoured vehicles were deployed at multiple locations in Srinagar.
India had turned the region into an equivalent of the Guantánamo Bay prison simply to hold a meeting on tourism, former IIOJK chief minister Mehbooba Mufti said.
She accused the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) of hijacking the G20 for its promotion.
The G20 is a group of 19 rich nations of the world plus the European Union. India holds the presidency of the grouping for 2023 and is holding several evens in various parts of the country, culminating in the G20 summit in New Delhi later this year.
This was the first major international event in IIOJK after Aug 5, 2019, when the BJP government stripped the region of its special status.
Last week, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said his country opposed the G20 meetings on the disputed territory.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and Mexico have reportedly opted for low-level representation. Turkiye, Egypt – special invitee – and several other countries did not confirm the participation of their official delegations till last night.
In Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), meanwhile, protest rallies were brought out in various cities to denounce the Srinagar meeting.
In Islamabad, a rally was staged by the All Parties Hurriyat Conference AJK and submitted a memorandum to the UN mission.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari visited Muzaffarabad, the capital of AJK, and addressed the AJK Legislative Assembly.
He termed the G20 gathering illegal, and an attempt by India to seek legitimacy over its control of the disputed region.
“India is misusing its position as G20 chair,” he said, urging the world to take note of New Delhi’s gross human rights violations since India scrapped IIOJK’s independent status in August 2019 and annexed the region as part of its territory.
Bilawal said that holding a G20 meeting in Srinagar was a sheer violation of the UN resolutions on Kashmir, adding that the people of IIOJK had been denied their basic right to self-determination for decades.
He said because of Indian atrocities in the held region, IIOJK had become an open air “prison” while the lands of Kashmiris were being occupied.
He stressed that India’s state terrorism could not change the reality of Kashmir.
A delegation of refugees from IIOJK also called on Bilawal and apprised him of its reservations regarding G20 conference. The delegation appreciated the role of the foreign minister with regard to the movement for the independence of Kashmir.
Addressing a rally in Islamabad, Peace and Culture Organisation Chairperson Mushaal Hussein Mullick lauded China for boycotting the meeting.
She also welcomed the reports of other counties boycotting the Srinagar event.
Mushaal, the wife of incarcerated senior Hurriyat leader Yasin Malik, led the rally from Zero Point to the National Press Club.
It was largely attended by people from all walks of life.
She called on the protesters to unmask India’s notorious face.
“It is encouraging that the conscious countries are skipping the G20 summit in the disputed region,” she said. “The fascist Narendra Modi-led notorious government will not be allowed to organise parties and celebrations on the graves of the Kashmiri people.”
Mullick told the rally that the Kashmiris would not rest until they removed the Indian yoke.
She added that it was high time that Pakistan’s friends should show solidarity with the Kashmiri people to foil the sinister plot of Modi.
Mullick emphasised that the G20 event in Srinagar was an attempt by the Modi government to portray normalcy in IIOJK. However, the notorious Indian government could not suppress the voice of brave Kashmiris through such a conference, she added.
She urged the world powers, human rights organisations, and UN bodies to raise the issue of India’s war crimes in order to force the Indian government to resolve the Kashmir dispute as per the aspirations of Kashmiri people. AGENCIES (WITH INPUT FROM OUR MUZAFFARABAD CORRESPONDENT)
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