'Irresponsible Move': Pakistan Cries Foul Once Again, As India Gears Up To Host G20 Meetings In Srinagar And Leh

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan issued a statement on Tuesday (11 April) expressing displeasure over the G20 Tourism Working Group meetings set to be held in Srinagar and Leh.

The statement follows the announcement of dates for the upcoming G20 events to be held in the next month. The G20 Tourism Working Group meeting is to be held in Srinagar from 22 May-24 May.

This would be the first international summit to be held in the region since the abrogation of Article 370. The meeting will be attended by delegates from G20 member states, guest countries, and various international organisations under India’s presidency.

The University of Kashmir (KU) is one among the 15 institutions in the country chosen to host the Youth-20 (Y-20) and Civil-20 (C-20) consultation forum meetings, being organised along with the G-20.

The Pakistani Ministry criticised India’s actions as ‘irresponsible’, accused India of breaking the UN Charter and international laws, and claimed that Srinagar is part of a disputed territory.

Pakistan and China had previously condemned the abrogation of Article 370 and India’s announcement that it intends to host some G20 meetings in Kashmir. However, China did not join Pakistan in condemning India this time around.

India did, however, extend an invitation to Pakistan to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Foreign Ministers’ meeting to be held in Goa next month. Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto has not confirmed his participation in the meeting so far.

India is also likely to host Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif in the coming months for the SCO summit. However, a bilateral meeting between the heads of state of the two countries is not on the cards so far.

Notably, India is the President of both the SCO and G20 for the year 2023 and will be hosting several world leaders and delegates from member states over the coming months.

India has also made it a point to utilise its G20 presidency to not only raise pressing global issues and build consensus on them, but showcase to the world its culture and promote tourism in the country.

It will also give India a chance to show how the Valley has normalised and its security situation improved since 2019. India will also pitch for boosting tourism and handicrafts in the picturesque Kashmir region.

Delegates to the G20 meetings will be taken sightseeing to major tourist places including the famous Dal Lake, Dachigam Wildlife Sanctuary, and visit north Kashmir’s ski resort in Gulmarg.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has been lobbying with member states such as China, Saudi Arabia, and Turkiye to prevent the Indian government from holding such a meeting, in the past months.