China boycotts G20 meeting held by India in Kashmir region

() — India has defended its decision to host a Group of 20 (G20) meeting in the Himalayan territory of Jammu and Kashmir, despite criticism from rights groups and an expected boycott by a handful of countries.

A tourism meeting for G20 members is scheduled to take place in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, this week, in an initiative the Indian government has touted as an opportunity to showcase the region’s culture. .

It is the first international event of this magnitude to be held in the disputed Muslim-majority region since India revoked its special status and divided the former state into two federal territories in 2019. Ladakh, formerly part of the state, seceded and it became another independent territory.

Ladakh is a disputed region along the Line of Actual Control, a de facto border between India and China. Both countries claim parts of it.

Last Friday, China said it would not attend the meeting, citing its opposition “to holding any kind of G20 meetings in disputed territory,” according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin.

Since a hand-to-hand confrontation in 2020 claimed the lives of at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers, both sides have deployed thousands of troops to the area, where they remain in what appears to be a semi-permanent standoff.

Tensions along the border have simmered for more than 60 years and have led to wars in the past. In 1962, a month-long conflict resulted in Chinese victory and the loss of thousands of square kilometers of Indian territory.

Other countries, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey, were expected to boycott the event.

An armored car in front of the G20 summit fence ahead of the G20 summit meeting in Srinagar. (Credit: Saqib Majeed/SOPA Images/SIPAPRE/AP)

Tensions in Kashmir

Kashmir is one of the most dangerous flashpoints in the world. Claimed in its entirety by both India and Pakistan, the mountainous region has been the epicenter for more than 70 years of an often violent turf war between nuclear-armed neighbors. A de facto border called the Line of Control divides it between New Delhi and Islamabad.

India stated that the revocation of Kashmir’s semi-autonomy was to ensure that the country’s laws were equal for all citizens and to increase the economic development of the region, as well as to end separatism and terrorism which it claimed counted on the complicity of Pakistan.

Last Saturday, Indian Tourism Secretary Arvind Singh declared that the meeting will not only serve to “showcase (Kashmir’s) potential for tourism” but also “to globally signal the restoration of stability and normality in the region”.

In April, Pakistan, which is not a member of the G20, criticized India’s decision to hold the tourism meeting in Kashmir, calling it an “irresponsible” move.

Last week, Fernand de Varennes, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, said the Indian government was “trying to normalize what some have described as a military operation by staging a G20 meeting” in a region where fear of human rights violations and violence.

In a statement on TwitterIndia’s permanent mission in Geneva rejected de Varennes’ criticism, calling the allegations “baseless and unjustified”.

Earlier this month, India stated that the G20 meeting in Srinagar “aims to strengthen economic growth, preserve cultural heritage and promote sustainable development in the region.”

India, the world’s largest democracy with a population of more than 1.4 billion, has struggled to position itself as a leader among emerging and developing nations since assuming the G20 presidency.

The G20, undoubtedly the most celebrated event of the year in India, has been heavily promoted in the country, with huge billboards featuring Modi’s face across the country.

Modi’s political allies took pains to promote his international credentials, presenting him as a key player in the world order.