Cash-strapped Pakistan rakes up Kashmir issue as India announces key G20 meeting in J&K

Pakistan, which is currently witnessing catastrophic economic and political turmoil, has gone out of its way to criticise India's G20 meet, a forum it is not a part of. After India announced dates for next month's G20 meeting, cash-strapped Pakistan expressed displeasure over New Delhi's choice of Srinagar as the venue for the upcoming G20 Tourism Working Group meeting. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan expressed concern over the scheduling of two other meetings of a G20 consultative forum on youth affairs (Y-20) in Leh and Srinagar.

G20, being a global forum comprising the world's top economies, does not include Pakistan owing to Islamabad's dire economic state and continous political turmoil. As far as global politics is concerned, the Indian subcontinent has managed to successfully retort Pakistan's frivolous attempts to lay claim to India's Jammu & Kashmir region, especially at the United Nations. India has highlighted time and again how the Pakistan goverment is at the centre of the state-sponsored terrorism faced by Indians in the J&K region and the hypocritical nature of their discourse. 

In addition to terrorism, the South Asian nation is facing its worst economic crisis in history, with leaders practically flying from nation to nation asking for financial aid. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif himself met with several potential international firms seeking a bailout. Experts say that Pakistan will be unable to pay the instaments required for a necessary bailout by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Trying to put the spotlight on one another, the PDM and PTI parties of Paksitan have been shifting blame regarding the country's economic status, so much so that there have been clashes between Islamabad police and PTI workers as the Shehbas Sharif government looks to make sure that former PM Imran Khan does not run for office again. 

In addition, tensions between the government and the Supreme Court has plunged the country into escalating political crisis. The country's Supreme Court ordered that elections in Punjab will take place on May 14, calling the Election Commission's decision to delay the polls "unconstitutional and illegal".

India's G20 presidency

The 3rd G20 tourism track meeting, scheduled to take place in Srinagar on May 22-24, will be the first major international event in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019. Delegates from G20 member states, guest countries, and various international organizations have been invited to participate in the event, as part of India's G20 Presidency.

The G20 member countries include Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, Mexico, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the European Union. India has also extended special invitations to guest countries, including Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, Spain, and the UAE.

Apart from the delegates representing these countries, officials from international organisations such as UNWTO and the International Labour Organisation are also expected to attend the meeting in Srinagar.