Bilal Dar
Ganderbal, May 25: The Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha, said on Thursday that despite many efforts by the neighbour (Pakistan) to foil the G-20 summit, the people of Kashmir made the event a grand success.
Addressing a gathering after inaugurating the Wayil Bridge in Central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district, the LG expressed his pride in India’s G20 presidency and responded to Pakistan’s accusations of ‘abusing’ the presidency with the Kashmir meet.
He said all major G20 countries openly supported our idea, so naturally, when an international of such magnitude is organised in J&K, some people are bound to have problems with it, and it was natural for them to make such horrid and threatening statements, which I think are not acceptable to any peace-loving nation.
He said that the three-day G-20 conference has opened the gates of success for the youth of Kashmir. “The G-20 conference in Srinagar has written many chapters of success for years to come,” the LG said.
The LG said that by participating freely in the G-20 event, the youth of Kashmir showcased their latent potential and proved that they are not less than the youth of any other state of India.
Pertinently, The delegates for the G20 Working Group on Tourism returned from Srinagar on Thursday as the major event concluded peacefully in the region amidst heightened security arrangements, officials said.
The official said that the G20-related event was one of the most high-profile programs organized in Srinagar in years despite security challenges, especially in the aftermath of the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A in August 2019.
During the three-day event, the entire region was put under a three-tier security blanket, including aerial drone surveillance. The authorities had deployed the elite National Security Guard (NSG) and Marine Commandos (MARCOS) in and around the venue to secure it.
Around 57 foreign dignitaries from 27 countries and over 100 delegates from union ministries and other organisations from Delhi were part of the meeting held in the picturesque Sher e Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) on the Boulevard Road built on Dal Lake.