G20 meeting kicks off in disputed Kashmir sans China, Saudi Arabia, others

A G20 tourism meeting has begun under tight security in India-administered Kashmir, as New Delhi seeks to project an image of normality in a region wracked for decades by violence.

The three-day meeting that began on Monday is the first significant international event in Kashmir since New Delhi stripped the Muslim-majority region of its semi-autonomy in 2019. Indian authorities hope the meeting will show that the contentious changes have brought peace and prosperity to the region.

Both China and Pakistan have condemned holding the event in the disputed territory, which is split between New Delhi and Islamabad, both of whom claim it in full.

G20 member China, which has its own territorial disputes with India, has refused to attend, and no delegations are expected from Türkiye, Indonesia or Saudi Arabia.

Pakistan also slammed New Delhi for holding the meeting in Srinagar.

In a speech to lawmakers in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir on Monday, Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said the Srinagar meeting was a “display of India’s arrogance on the world stage" and the region "has become an open prison” for its residents.

Over the decades a movement seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan has seen tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers and rebels killed.

But India wants to show that what officials call "normalcy and peace" are returning to the region after New Delhi's controversial 2019 move and the imposition of an extended lockdown.

Dissent has been criminalised, media freedoms curbed and public protests limited in what critics say is a drastic curtailment of civil liberties by Indian authorities.

Since the lockdown, the rebels have largely been crushed – although young men continue to take up arms – and the annual death toll, once in the thousands, has been on a downward trend, with 253 fatalities last year.

'Paradise on earth'

"Kashmir is a very peaceful destination," said India's G20 sherpa, Amitabh Kant. "We are seeing peace, progress and prosperity taking place here."

India is now promoting tourism in the region – home to spectacular mountain scenery – with welcome signs at the airport declaring it "paradise on earth".

More than a million Indian citizens visited last year.

India accuses Pakistan of training and supporting militants in Kashmir, which Islamabad denies.

Police said last week that security had been beefed up "to avoid any chance of attack during the G20", and on Monday soldiers and armoured vehicles were deployed at multiple locations in Srinagar.

But many checkpoints – wrapped in metal mesh and bar bed wire – were dismantled overnight, and some paramilitary police stood hidden behind G20 advertising panels in what appeared to be an effort to minimise the security forces' visibility.

The gathering is taking place at a well-guarded complex on the shores of Dal Lake in Srinagar.

'Just a facade'

Questions have been raised over the choice of location.

"Does the Modi government think that tourism can be promoted in closed conference halls next to a scenic lake being patrolled by marine commandos, with surveillance drones overhead?" columnist Bharat Bhushan wrote in the Deccan Herald newspaper.

"Such staged events make it clear that the situation in J&K (Jammu and Kashmir) is far from normal."

Residents have chafed under the stepped-up security measures, with one describing the situation as "just a facade" on Monday.

Hundreds have been detained in police stations and thousands, including shopkeepers, have received calls from officials warning against any "signs of protest or trouble", a senior official told AFP news agency on condition of anonymity.

To visit India-administered Kashmir, foreign journalists require special permission, which is not normally forthcoming, though it has been granted for the G20 meeting.

The permits are valid only for coverage of the event itself and limited to the city of Srinagar.