Let Kashmir host and how!
Many G-20 member states keep issuing advisories asking their people not to visit Jammu and Kashmir for security concerns. Such irrational advisories should be discouraged and the new peaceful personality of the UT needs to be projected.
The non- ministerial working meeting of the working group of G-20 member states slated for May 22, 24 in Srinagar is of great significance. Many of the G-20 member states keep issuing advisories to their respective citizens not to visit Jammu and Kashmir for security
concerns. Such unwarranted and irrational advisories have greatly impacted the prospects of foreign tourists visiting Jammu and Kashmir. Even though the UT registered record tourist influx in the last couple of years, the number of foreign tourists has been insignificant. It is strange that some advanced western countries are guided by wrong notions and are prone to be influenced by the disinformation campaign unleashed by the
adversaries of the Indian state. Kashmir is more peaceful than the west itself where racism and racist discourse are consuming innocent lives on a daily basis. It is an irony that some western countries are so ill-informed that they get influenced by mere hear-say and without going for a reality check, keep issuing negative advisories. The days the G-20 event in Srinagar provide us an opportunity to clear the air and project the true picture before thevisiting dignitaries. Kashmir has been on the tourist map for centuries. It is the number 1 tourist destination globally. The physical and infrastructural development in
the last two or three years and improvement in logistics would certainly help in attracting more foreign tourists provided the negative advisories are immediately revoked. God gifted beauty apart, the world class facilities being created in the last few years should make
the visiting dignitaries introspect, ponder and regret for discriminating against such a bestowed place on absolutely baseless notions.
The people of Kashmir, particularly those associated with the tourism sector, have great expectation with the historic international event being organised in Srinagar. They have high stakes and are upbeat that the event would certainly go a long way in dispelling the wrong notions about Kashmir. Kashmir and Kashmiris, the stakeholders argue, should be rewarded for the culture of hospitality. Hospitable Kashmir should not be identified with occasional terrorist acts planned and orchestrated from foreign soils. Let us celebrate the
theme of G-20 of 2023: “One earth, one family, one future”.
