Austin 3:!6 Posted May 23 Share Posted May 23 India’s presidency of the G20 group of leading nations has become mired in controversy after China and Saudi Arabia boycotted a meeting staged in Kashmir, the first such gathering since India unilaterally brought Kashmir under direct control in August 2019. The meeting, a tourism working group attended by about 60 delegates from most G20 countries taking place from Monday to Wednesday, required a large show of security at Srinagar international airport. In 2019 the Indian government stripped the disputed Muslim-majority region of semi-autonomy and split it into two federal territories in an attempt to integrate it fully into India. Indian authorities hoped the meeting would show that the controversial changes have brought “peace and prosperity” to the region and that it is a safe place for tourists. India’s elite National Security Guard, including its counter-drone unit and marine commandos, were helping police and paramilitary forces to secure the event venues. China has said it will not attend, citing its firm opposition “to holding any kind of G20 meetings in disputed territory”. In April, Pakistan, which also lays claim to Kashmir but is not a G20 member, described the meeting as irresponsible. Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Indonesia were also expected to stay away. The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti claimed India had turned the region into the equivalent of the Guantánamo Bay prison simply to hold a meeting on tourism. She also accused the Bharatiya Janata party, the party of the prime minister, Narendra Modi, of hijacking the G20 for its promotional purposes. Last week Fernand de Varennes, the UN’s special rapporteur on minority issues, issued a statement saying the G20 was “unwittingly providing a veneer of support to a facade of normalcy” when human rights violations, political persecution and illegal arrests were escalating in Kashmir. He said the meeting risked normalising what some have described as a military occupation. The statement was criticised as baseless by India’s permanent mission at the UN in Geneva. It was India’s prerogative to hold G20 meetings in any part of the country, the mission said. India divided the Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019 to create two federally administered territories – Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. Ladakh is a disputed frontier region along the line of actual control between India and China, and both countries claim parts of it. The chief coordinator for India’s G20 presidency, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, said on Sunday: “We have the highest representation from foreign delegations for the tourism working group meeting in Srinagar, than we have had in the previous working group meetings. “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. If you have to do a working group on tourism in India, we have to do it in Srinagar. There is no option.” Britain’s high commissioner to India, Alex Ellis, said UK representatives would be attending the meeting. At a meeting between Modi and Rishi Sunak, the UK prime minister, at the G7 in Hiroshima, the two sides discussed progress on reaching a free trade deal. India remains angry at what it regards as a lax UK police reaction to an attack on the Indian high commission in London on 19 March by pro-Khalistan extremists. Security has been stepped up outside the commission. China and Saudi Arabia boycott G20 meeting held by India in Kashmir | G20 | The Guardian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bharathh Posted Tuesday at 10:27 AM Share Posted Tuesday at 10:27 AM China was not a surprise. Saudi was I suppose. Still the rest made it and it is running well (fingers crossed). We have OIC representation in UAE and Indonesia. Good start. sandeep 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khota Posted Thursday at 12:51 AM Share Posted Thursday at 12:51 AM China has no respect for Tibetans. No respect for Ughyiar Muslims but wants to preach India. I think if Indian politician has any guts they should pass a law that bans trade with countries India has border dispute with. Saudi Arabia needs to understand that there are more Muslims in India than Pakistan. Going against India is not in their best interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lone Wolf Posted Thursday at 08:37 AM Share Posted Thursday at 08:37 AM (edited) 7 hours ago, Khota said: China has no respect for Tibetans. No respect for Ughyiar Muslims but wants to preach India. I think if Indian politician has any guts they should pass a law that bans trade with countries India has border dispute with. Saudi Arabia needs to understand that there are more Muslims in India than Pakistan. Going against India is not in their best interest. Saudis probably have got some competition wrt Turkey to be seen as leader of Muslim world. Perfectly fine strategy. They kept mum while Art 370 was scrapped so not a big deal this. China is a different issue. We are nearly in a state of impending War with them. GoI is hell bent on not angering them. India won't touch Uyghur subject ever. If Arabs can't do sh*t then we also have turned blind eye to that. India still follows one China policy & that includes not recognizing Taiwan. Dalai Lama & Tibet are our cards to play. But next Dalai Lama is supposed to be from China so we won't have that ace in our sleeves for long. Edited Thursday at 08:39 AM by Lone Wolf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khadekhademaaro Posted Thursday at 09:05 AM Share Posted Thursday at 09:05 AM 8 hours ago, Khota said: China has no respect for Tibetans. No respect for Ughyiar Muslims but wants to preach India. I think if Indian politician has any guts they should pass a law that bans trade with countries India has border dispute with. Saudi Arabia needs to understand that there are more Muslims in India than Pakistan. Going against India is not in their best interest. Xi ke saath saawan ke jhoole kaun le raha tha Khota 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffee_rules Posted Thursday at 03:04 PM Share Posted Thursday at 03:04 PM 5 hours ago, khadekhademaaro said: Xi ke saath saawan ke jhoole kaun le raha tha Modi ke alawa zindagi mein sochta hain kya? Har jagah Modi Modi karta rehta hain. Austin 3:!6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khadekhademaaro Posted Friday at 02:48 AM Share Posted Friday at 02:48 AM 11 hours ago, coffee_rules said: Modi ke alawa zindagi mein sochta hain kya? Har jagah Modi Modi karta rehta hain. nahi bhai. man changa to kathauti mein ganga. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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