Why the G20 Meeting in Kashmir is Important for India
Jammu and Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar has been chosen as one of the 215 venues throughout India to host one of the 2023 G20 summits. This is the first major international event to take place in the region.
Of the 215 G20 meetings to be held in 55 locations throughout India next week, four will focus on developing tourism in the country. One of these meetings is taking place in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir's summer capital.
Jammu and Kashmir’s Lieutenant Governor and senior member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Manoj Sinha, said on Saturday that the G20 working group meeting on tourism in Srinagar would give the region the opportunity to show off the hospitality for which it is famed, and will give a big boost to the industry.
Located at the south-eastern foot of the Himalayas, J&K is well-known for its stunning natural beauty and rich cultural heritage. In a bid to boost tourism, India's government has prioritised development of this sector over Kashmir's other sectors, such as horticulture which provides employment to more than three million in the area. At present, although the government claims that Jammu and Kashmir has great potential as a tourist hub, tourism makes up less than 7 percent of Kashmir’s GDP.
This is why so many hopes are being pinned on the G20 meeting taking place in Srinagar.
What Caused Kashmir's Tourism Industry to Decline?
The Jammu and Kashmir union territory is claimed by India and Pakistan - both of them nuclear powers that have fought three wars since the two countries were created in 1947 when British colonial rule of the Indian subcontinent came to an end.
At present, Pakistan and China administer a portion of the region with routine flare-ups at the administrative borders of the three countries. Until 1989, the region under Indian control, known as the state of Jammu and Kashmir, was a haven for tourists.
The view of the snow-capped Himalayas, beautiful rivers and pleasant summer months made Kashmir a perfect getaway for tourists escaping their busy city lives. The region was also favoured by the Indian film industry which found Kashmir a much more economical alternative to Europe when it came to filming.
Although tourism has never been as big a business in the region as agriculture (the area's main income generator), a large number of people relied on the sector to make a living. However, the eruption of anti-Indian insurgency in 1989 brought the industry to an end as tourist numbers plummeted.
Even though the attacks, which India has accused Pakistan of backing, have calmed down, it is still regarded as an unsafe place to visit. This has resulted in several countries - including the US and member states of the EU - issuing guidelines or even restricting their citizens from visiting the Kashmir region.
In 2019, when India's government revoked Jammu and Kashmir's semi-autonomous status, tensions between India and Pakistan worsened, and other countries became even less likely to lift their travel restrictions.
However, India's government has been making a serious effort to revive the industry by building tourist infrastructure which has resulted in a massive rise in domestic tourism.
However, despite promising signs, there's still some way to go before the area's full potential has been reached.
G20 Meeting: A Chance For Image Change
A senior government official, speaking to Sputnik on condition of anonymity, said that the authorities were hoping that after the foreign dignitaries visit the region they will take back a “positive image of Kashmir”.
The official said all government departments in the past two months have done their best to improve Srinagar's image, and make it bright and less “bellicose”.
Local authorities have given the streets and walls of the city a fresh lick of paint, planted flowers, cleared several military checkpoints and paramilitary bunkers. Street vendors and hawkers were advised to remove their carts temporarily so that convoys of delegations can move about without let or hindrance.
Although the government is hoping visiting foreign delegations will serve as ambassadors for Kashmir, the main aim is to convince countries to lift their travel restrictions to Kashmir.
Restoring normality to Kashmir after more than three decades of violence is a major goal for the government of India, and a successful G20 gathering for many officials in the region will only aid India's argument at the international level.
Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt have yet to confirm whether they will attend the meeting in Kashmir and China has said that it won't, according to a statement made by Tourism Secretary Arvind Singh in a media briefing held in New Delhi on 19 May. But local authorities in Kashmir haven't let this damp their enthusiasm for the task in hand.
As for security, authorities have not stinted on the number of policemen, paramilitary officials and marine commandos who will be present in their thousands near the meetings' venues.
Passers-by are being searched for concealed weapons, schools and other educational institutions near sensitive locations have been asked to remain closed and shopkeepers have been advised to keep their shops open to prevent any effort by separatists and militants to enforce a shutdown in protest of the meetings.
Separatist outfits have a history of calling for strikes to oppose government functions and even national days such as India's Independence and Republic day.
It remains to be seen whether Kashmir can take its rightful place as South Asia's top international tourist destination or remain marred by the historical baggage baggage it carries of being caught between two nuclear nations.
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