With the majority of invited delegates visiting Srinagar for the G20 working group meet, a miffed Pakistan lashed out and said it “categorically rejects” the holding of the event. Pakistan is not a member of G20 and neither has India especially invited it to attend G20 meetings such as Bangladesh and Mauritius.
“Tourism and development cannot be promoted by holding the local population hostage and denying them their rights and freedoms…India’s facade of normalcy in Kashmir is met by the harsh reality that it is one of the most militarised zones on the planet. The extreme security measures, arbitrary arrests and harassment of the local population around the Srinagar meeting refute the claims of normalcy,” said a Pakistan Foreign Office statement.
It appreciated China, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, Egypt and Oman for not attending the meeting. “These countries have stood for international law and for the primacy of the UN Charter,” it said.
