G20 Tourism Working Group meeting continues in Srinagar

Multiple sessions were held on the second day of the G20 Tourism Working Group continued in Srinagar on Tuesday with foreign delegates later visiting several famous places in the city.

During the day, the foreign delegates held multiple sessions at the heavily guarded SK International Convention Centre (SKICC), the main venue of the event.

Various important sessions of the side event on tourism deliberated upon how to leverage the power of film tourism to promote destinations. The sessions provided an opportunity for the states/union territories to share their policies and best practices which helped them develop film tourism.

The event also provided an opportunity to industry stakeholders to give their suggestions and feedback on the factors that will encourage filmmakers to shoot in various locations in the country.

Also Read | G20 Srinagar meeting likely to promote Kashmir on film tourism map of world

In the afternoon, the delegates were taken to a few locations including Nishat Garden, Cheshma Shahi, Pari Mahal, Kashmir Arts Emporium and Polo View Market.

Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Apurva Chandra in his detailed session on ‘Facilitating Film Tourism in India through Film Facilitation’ said, India’s film sector has very much to offer to the world having skilled manpower, visualisation and sound effects.

The culture and heritage of India provide an enabling environment to the world to shoot the best films here, Chandra added.

A total of 61 delegates are participating in the event - the first major international event to be held in J&K since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.

Malls, shops and other businesses in the city centre Lal Chowk and adjoining areas were open, even though some shopkeepers complained that customer footfall was low due to heightened security measures.

While some restrictions have been imposed around Dal Lake and SKICC, traffic has been plying normally in other parts of the city since the arrival of the delegates on Monday.

Simon Wong, High Commissioner of Singapore told reporters that the country continues to be the biggest investor in India. “Cumulatively we have $ 140 billion of investment in India which is growing day by day, and we are looking for new areas of investment and growth,” he said.

Earlier in the day Union Minister Jitendra Singh said China not attending the G20 meeting in Srinagar does not make any difference and it is their loss, not India’s. “That (China not attending the meeting) does not make any difference. China not coming is China's loss, not India's," Singh told reporters on the sidelines of the G20 meet.

Besides China, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, among G20 countries, have not sent any official representatives to attend the three-day event in Srinagar.

India under its G20 Presidency is currently holding meetings across the country in the lead-up to the G20 Summit scheduled to be held in September in New Delhi.

For the three-day G20 Summit, from May 22-24, Kashmir is under a three-tier security grid for aerial surveillance drone monitoring is put in place. National Security Guard (NSG) and MARCOS (military unit Marine Commandos) have been deployed around the SKICC.