India to Host G20 In Srinagar; Pakistan Calls It “Irresponsible ” While Ukraine Asks For Its Entry

G20 has been the talk of the town since India announced the venue for the grand summit. India, on Tuesday, announced that the country will be organizing the event in the ‘Blessed City’ of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir. This summit is going to be grand as it involves the participation of around 20 prominent nations from around the globe. Different nations are coming up with their statements and appeals regarding the convention.

Ukraine has openly asked India to allow it to participate in the summit. The country is currently in war with Russia. The Ukrainian president wishes to express himself on the same topic.

On the other hand India’s neighboring country; Pakistan has posed this move as “irresponsible”. They issued the statement in view of the conditions in the state. As Jammu and Kashmir has always been disputed area and it is prone to danger.

Russia and China team up against Ukraine

Emine Dzhaparova, the first deputy foreign minister of Ukraine, argued that India should stand with Ukraine and be on the right side of history. She asked New Delhi to take Ukraine’s participation in upcoming G20 events, such as the summit in September, into consideration. Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, would be “happy” to address the group, she continued.

Dzhaparova said, “We believe that discussion about the economy and the future economy/ economic situation in the world is not possible without a frank discussion about the repercussions of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Because it has an impact on the economic growth, it has an impact on the economy and the economies of G20 countries.”

Russia and China rejected adding the sections of the Bali declaration from the previous session that dealt with Ukraine in a unified communiqué at the G20 foreign ministers conference in New Delhi in March, stating that the organization is a venue for addressing finance and macroeconomic issues. A joint communiqué was replaced in the absence of unanimity by a Chair’s summary and outcome document.

Later that month, in the joint statement issued after Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Moscow visit, Russia and China said they “firmly condemn the politicization of multilateral platforms and the attempts of certain countries to insert irrelevant issues in the agenda of multilateral platforms and dilute the primary tasks of relevant mechanisms”.

Also read: Tripura Government Chastised For Hosting G20 Meet Luncheon At Sacred Durbar Hall

“Pakistan vehemently condemns these moves,” Pakistan on G20

In a foreign ministry statement released on Tuesday, Pakistan expressed its “strong indignation” after the Indian government announced Srinagar as the venue for the G20 summit.

“India’s irresponsible move is the latest in a series of self-serving measures to perpetuate its illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir in sheer disregard of the United Nations Security Council resolutions and in violation of the principles of the United Nations Charter and international law. Pakistan vehemently condemns these moves,” the statement read.

“Such events cannot hide the reality of Jammu and Kashmir being an internationally recognized dispute that has remained on the agenda of United Nations Security Council for over seven decades,” the Pakistani statement added. “For a country that has a grandiose vision about itself, and its place in the world, India has once more demonstrated that it is unable to act as a responsible member of the international community.”

Since their independence from British rule in 1947, India and Pakistan have been at odds over the Himalayan region of Kashmir. The two nuclear-armed neighbours have engaged in three wars, two of which were fought over Kashmir, which both nations claim as their own and portions of which they each control.

Four years ago, the Kashmir problem got worse when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government in India withdrew Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, which gave Kashmir’s administration some autonomy.

Pakistan’s former envoy to India, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, termed India’s decision to hold the event in Srinagar “highly inappropriate”.

“It is unbecoming of India to host an event in Srinagar which is in disputed territory. It is very inappropriate, but the way things are, this issue is not taken up as seriously due to Indian importance,” Qazi told the media.

He said it is “unfortunate” that the Western countries which claim to be champions of human rights choose to ignore India’s decision.

“They are ignoring the fact that India is playing host in Srinagar – and also did not invite China, which is a key member of G20, but it is also a major violator of human rights – as well as United Nations resolutions about this region.”