Srinagar set for G20 meet, some yet to confirm participation

As per the schedule, the delegates, after holding deliberations with stakeholders in the tourism sector on the first day, will go on a tour of Srinagar. An initial plan to take them to Gulmarg overnight on the second day has been scrapped — sources in police told The Indian Express that besides security concerns, the logistics of taking nearly 150 people to Gulmarg was considered “unfeasible”.

Details of the programme are being worked out.

ADG (Kashmir),  Jammu and Kashmir Police, Vijay Kumar on Thursday said a three-tier security will be provided for the event. Anti-drone technology with the help of NSG and Army personnel will be deployed, and a team of elite MARCOS — or the Marine Commandos — has been brought in to secure the Dal Lake.

“Additionally, police, CRPF, BSF and SSB personnel have been deployed in the city to keep the event incident-free,” he said.

“The G20 working group meeting in  Jammu and Kashmir  is a great opportunity for all of us to showcase and promote the Union Territory and its abundant tourism potential to the world,” the UT’s Tourism Secretary, Syed Abid Shah, said.

Expressing hope that the event will increase livelihood opportunities for people in Jammu and Kashmir, Shah said, “I am confident that it will give a fillip to the tourism sector as well as allied sectors in Jammu and Kashmir  and make the world aware of multifarious possibilities of this sector.”

The meetings are being held at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre. Cultural programmes representing all regions of  Jammu and Kashmir are also being held for the visiting delegates.