G20 summit in Kashmir: 60 foreign delegates arrive in Srinagar for tourism working group meeting

A convoy of cars carrying delegates make their way towards the venue for the G20 tourism meet in Srinagar on May 22, 2023. Photo by Tauseef Mustafa / AFP

Around sixty delegates from various G-20 countries arrived in Jammu and Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar on Monday to participates in the third tourism working group meeting.

The delegates from several countries of the G20 grouping arrived in a chartered flight at the Sheikh-ul-Alam International airport in Srinagar in the morning amidst tight security, officials said.

It is a first international meeting being held in Kashmir. The meeting bears significance because it is being held after the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the erstwhile state into two Union Territories - Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh - in August 2019.

While China said that it won't attend the event "in a disputed territory", the Indian government announced that Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt did not register for the event and skipped the meeting.

Parts of Srinagar, the capital city of Jammu and Kashmir, have received a facelift with G20 logos painted on walls and hoardings to welcome the delegates.

Officials said security has been heightened in the region particularly in Srinagar and its outskirts to thwart any possible disturbance of law and order. Security has been beefed up across the valley also with the elite NSG and Marine Commandos helping police and paramilitary forces to secure the venues of the event, they said.

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While the Boulevard Road around the SKICC, the venue, has been made a no-go zone for the three days, there is a massive deployment of security forces on the route taken by the delegates, and the Airport Road to Dalgate stretch, officials said.

Sanitisation and "area domination" exercises have been carried out in and around the venues, along the route and at vulnerable spots of the city. Scanners and sniffer dogs have been pressed into action to check for any explosives or IEDs.

Vehicles passing through the city are being randomly checked to ensure that no secure the city. The Jammu and Kashmir Police has roped in the Army to cover the higher reaches of the Zabarwan Range overlooking the meeting venue and accommodation facilities for the guests.

Thirty companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), which had earlier been taken out of Jammu and Kashmir for election duty in the rest of the country, have since been recalled to further strengthen security in the valley.

The NSG's counter-drone unit has been pressed into service to ensure that no unwanted aerial intrusion takes place. (With inputs from PTI)