Srinagar: The world-famous tourist resort of Gulmarg has been spruced up to host a lunch and a joyride on the high altitude ropeway, Gulmarg Gondola, for around 150 guests on the sidelines of the main Group-20 (G20) meeting of the Working Group on Tourism next week.
Officials associated with the G20 event has said that all arrangements had been made for a lunch and a Gondola ride for the 150 guests, including around 60 foreigners, on 24 May. Union Minister of Tourism and Culture, G. Kishan Reddy, and Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, Dr Jitendra Singh, are among the high dignitaries from the Government of India who are expected to attend the G20 event at SKICC Srinagar on 23 May before an excursion of the participation at Gulmarg on 24 May.
The conference is scheduled to begin on 22 May with group discussions on the prospects of tourism promotion between the G20 nations. Some of the member nations, who have not withdrawn adverse advisories against the Kashmir visits of their tourists till date, are expected to revoke such advisories after the G20 event in Srinagar.
The main deliberations of the G20 event, a conference of the Working Group on Tourism, are scheduled to be held at Sher-e-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC) on 24 May. As of now, none of the 20 member nations, including the European Union, has conveyed anything to the incumbent President, India, with regard to absence at the conference in Srinagar.
There were speculations of China and Turkey staying away on the request of Pakistan but a representative from Turkey attended a Youth-20 (Y20) conference at the University of Kashmir last week. “We are not sure about China’s participation but, until now, there’s nothing adverse from that country’s embassy”, said an official. According to him, Pakistan had “completely failed” in its diplomatic campaign against the G20 conferences in the UTs of J&K and Ladakh. “Now, they are burning in their own fire at home”, the official added.
Even as the schedule of a brief cruise on Dal Lake is still intact, officials said that a picnic to Dachigam National Park had been cancelled. In Srinagar, almost all the participants will be staying at two of the best luxury hotels—Vivanta By Taj and The Lalit Grand Palace. Officials said that all necessary security arrangements have been put in place.
Over 20 performing artists, drawn from different areas of Kashmir and Jammu, will be participating in a cultural programme being hosted for the G20 guests at SKICC. “Only performing artists, not singers and musicians”, said an official.
At Gulmarg, the G20 participants are scheduled to take lunch at Khyber Himalayan Resort. They will also be taken for a joyride on the Gulmarg Gondola, one of the world’s highest altitude ropeways.
The road to Gulmarg has been widened and beautified from Narbal to Tangmarg with fresh macadam and construction of world class washrooms and other utilities. Signboards of shops and other business and government establishments have been made uniform all along the road to Gulmarg.
