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China has said it opposed the G20 Tourism Working Group meeting scheduled to take place next week in the disputed Himalayan territory of Indian-controlled Kashmir and stressed that it will not attend the event.
“China firmly opposes holding any form of G20 meetings on disputed territory. We will not attend such meetings,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a press conference.
Saudi Arabia and Turkey have also decided not to attend the Kashmir event as the two countries have not registered for the event to be held in the summer capital of Jammu & Kashmir, Srinagar, Indian news channel NDTV reported.
India replied to China’s decision not to attend the upcoming event by saying that it is free to hold events on its own territory.
“Peace and tranquility in the border areas are essential for normal bilateral ties with China,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Nikkei Asia during his trip to the G7 summit in Japan on Friday.
It also said peace and tranquility on its border are essential for normal ties with China.
China’s decision comes days after Chinese and Pakistani foreign ministers reiterated their opposition to “unilateral actions” in Jammu and Kashmir, and supported resolving the Kashmir issue as per UN resolutions.
Ties between New Delhi and Beijing have also been hampered since a military clash in Ladakh in 2020 in which 24 soldiers were killed. Currently, a large chunk of Ladakh is under Beijing’s control.
Security in the disputed region of Kashmir has been heightened for the upcoming event, which is set to take place on May 22 to 24.
According to Indian media, around 60 delegates are expected to attend the meeting, the count of which earlier was over 100 delegates.
On 5 August 2019, India snatched the Muslim-majority state’s special status by abolishing Article 370, and downgraded the status of the state to a Union Territory, thus transferring its powers to the Governor of India.
The abolishment of the article also led to the further division of the Jammu & Kashmir state into two, giving birth to the Ladakh state.
