Jammu and Kashmir forms high-level committee to oversee preparations for G20 event

The Jammu and Kashmir government has formed a 16-member committee of high profile officers to make arrangements for the G20 event in the Union Territory (UT).

The G20, or Group of Twenty, is an intergovernmental forum of the world’s 20 major developed and developing economies, making it the premier forum for international economic cooperation. The first G20 Sherpa meeting under India’s presidency started on December 4, 2022, in Udaipur, Rajasthan.

According to a government order, the committee will be headed by the Financial Commissioner (additional chief secretary), the home department of J&K.

“In view of the visit of officials from G20 participating countries/organisations to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, a sanction is hereby accorded to the constitution of the committee to oversee the preparations related to the G20 event in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir,” the order reads.

The members of the committee include Director General of Police (DGP), Dilbagh Singh, Special DGP CID, Rashmi Ranjan Swain, Principal secretaries to J&K government, Shaleen Kabra, Dheeraj Gupta, Prashant Goyal, Shailendra Kumar, H Rajesh Prasad and Alok Kumar, ADGP Security, SDS Jamwal, Commissioner/Secretary Sanjeev Verma, Division Commissioner Kashmir P K Pole, Administrative Secretary Zubair Ahmad, Commissioner Srinagar Municipality, Athar Amir and Vice-Chairman Lake Conservation and Management Authority, Bashir Ahmad Bhat.

On December 1, India assumed the presidency of G20 summit and during the coming year will host various 200 meetings from Kashmir to Kanyakumari to firm up the agenda of the summit scheduled to happen in September, 2023.

The G20 event in Jammu and Kashmir is of immense diplomatic significance for India. It is aimed at making a statement and a message to the international community, especially Pakistan and China, about J&K with India.

After the announcement that Srinagar will be hosting some of the G20 meetings, China and Pakistan were quick to raise objections to the move. While Pakistan is not a member of G-20, China is an important member of the elite group. Pakistan is lobbying with China, Saudi Arabia and Turkey to prevent India from holding some meetings of G-20 in Kashmir

The G20 members have not reacted to the objection raised by China and Pakistan over any meetings in Kashmir. The G-20 members represent around 85 per cent of the global GDP, over 75 per cent of the global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population.

The G20 was founded in 1999 after the Asian financial crisis as a forum for the finance ministers and Central Bank governors to discuss global economic and financial issues. It comprises 19 countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States) and the European Union.