By India Today World Desk: Days after China, in a joint statement with Pakistan, raked up the Kashmir issue, it has now said it will not attend the planned G20 Tourism Working Group meeting in Jammu and Kashmir next week. China's foreign ministry in a statement said it is "firmly opposed" to holding such meetings in the "disputed territory", news agency PTI reported.
“China firmly opposes holding any form of G20 meetings on disputed territory," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a media briefing in Beijing in response to a question.
“We will not attend such meetings,” he added.
India will host the third G20 Tourism Working Group meeting in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, from May 22 to May 24.
India has countered the objection by saying it is free to hold meetings on its own territory, reported Reuters. It said on Friday peace and tranquility on its border is essential for normal ties with China.
The G20 meeting in Srinagar is a "big opportunity" for Jammu and Kashmir to showcase its true potential, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Wednesday. He said such an international event taking place in Srinagar would send a positive message in the country and across the globe.
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Pakistan has also opposed India's decision to hold a G20 meeting in Jammu and Kashmir. India has dismissed the objections of its neighbouring nation. China’s decision to skip the summit is apparently linked to objections by its close ally Pakistan and comes after it did not attend a G20 meeting held in Arunachal Pradesh in March.
Earlier this month, China and Pakistan, both close allies, raked up the long-standing dispute in a joint statement reiterating their position that the Kashmir issue should be properly and peacefully resolved in accordance with "the UN charter, relevant Security Council resolutions and bilateral agreements."
Rushing to Pakistan's defence, China had said the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan was left over from history and should be resolved as per the UN resolutions while avoiding any unilateral action.
India's External Affairs Minister at the SCO meeting in New Delhi launched a sharp attack on his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, saying, "They have nothing to do with the G20, nothing to do with even Srinagar and Kashmir. They should answer when they will vacate the illegally occupied territories of Jammu and Kashmir."
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India has previously slammed statements from Beijing and Islamabad on Jammu and Kashmir.
"We have consistently rejected such statements and all parties concerned are well aware of our clear position on these matters. The Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir and the Union Territory of Ladakh are and always will be integral and inalienable parts of India. No other country has a locus standi to comment on the same," the Ministry of External Affairs has commented before on comments by Pakistan and China.
India and China have been locked in a lingering border standoff in eastern Ladakh for three years. The bilateral relationship came under severe strain following the deadly clash in Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh in June 2020.
India has maintained that the bilateral relationship cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border area.
(With agency inputs)
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