Cavalcade of G-20 delegates shifting in the direction of venue on the worldwide conference centre amid tight safety in Srinagar on Monday, 22 May 2023.
| Photo Credit: Nissar Ahmad
About 60 international delegates arrived right here on Monday for the third tourism working group meeting of the G20 countries, officers stated.
This is the primary worldwide meeting being held in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the erstwhile state into two Union Territories – Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh – in August 2019.
Officials stated the delegates from a number of nations of the G20 grouping arrived in a chartered flight on the Srinagar worldwide airport in the morning amidst tight safety.
Also learn: Jammu & Kashmir: From a State with autonomy to two Union Territories
They stated the delegates had been taken to the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC), the venue of the meeting, amid heavy deployment of safety personnel alongside the route.
The stretch has obtained a facelift with G20 logos painted on partitions and hoardings to welcome the delegates.
Officials stated stringent safety preparations have been made to make sure that the occasion concludes incident-free.
While the Boulevard Road across the SKICC has been made a no-go zone for the three days, there’s large deployment of safety forces on the route taken by the delegates, and the Airport Road to Dalgate stretch, officers stated.
They stated safety has been beefed up throughout the valley with the elite NSG and Marine Commandos serving to police and paramilitary forces to safe the venues of the occasion, they stated.
Sanitisation and “area domination” workouts have been carried out in and across the venues, alongside the route and at susceptible spots of town. Scanners and sniffer canines have been pressed into motion to test for any explosives or IEDs, the officers added.
Vehicles passing by town are being randomly checked to make sure that no subversive parts handle to enter town, officers stated.
The Jammu and Kashmir Police has roped in the Army to cowl the upper reaches of the Zabarwan Range overlooking the meeting venue and lodging amenities for the company.
Thirty corporations of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), which had earlier been taken out of Jammu and Kashmir for election responsibility in the remainder of the nation, have since been recalled to additional strengthen safety in the valley.
The NSG’s counter-drone unit has been pressed into service to make sure that no undesirable aerial intrusion takes place.
According to officers, there is no such thing as a restriction on the motion of individuals or public transport in town or elsewhere, the officers stated.
They stated retailers and enterprise institutions had been open throughout town and life was “absolutely normal”.
Srinagar metropolis has been spruced up for the three-day working group meeting on tourism which begins later in the day. Several initiatives, which had been a part of Srinagar Smart City, had been taken up on precedence and town has been decked up for the worldwide occasion.