NEW DELHI : India’s announcement of the venue for the forthcoming G20 meeting in Srinagar came at a time when Pakistan and China put out strong opposition to the move. In fact, Pakistan took up this issue with its G20 allies like Saudi Arabia. China tried to embarrass India by releasing its own names for several places in Arunachal Pradesh as a tactic to stop the Srinagar venue.
In its updated G20 calendar last Friday, India indicated that a meeting of the working group on tourism is scheduled to place from May 22 to 24. While China will likely ignore the Srinagar meeting, like in the case of Arunachal, official sources here said there was never any doubt about the meeting in Srinagar.
Preparations were made for holding G20 meetings in all 28 states and eight union territories and India emphasises that both Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir will remain integral parts of India, sources said. Just like in the case of the G20 meeting in Arunachal Pradesh in the North East, the government is expecting a good response to the Srinagar event as well.
India took it as a prestigious issue to make the Srinagar event a success. Sources said that it would be a good opportunity for India to show the world what unsubstantiated claims Pakistan has been making on human rights violations in the Kashmir Valley, according to sources. India's decision has snubbed China which has called for not complicating the situation regarding the G20 venue with a unilateral decision.
