India plans G20 events in Ladakh too after protest by China and Pakistan

India is now planning to hold some events related to the G20 summit in 2023 in Ladakh too although China and Pakistan already opposed its plan to hold some meetings linked to the conclave in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, R K Mathur, sanctioned the nomination of an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer and an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of his administration to coordinate with the Ministry of External Affairs for preparations for the G20 events to be held in the union territory next year.

New Delhi’s plan to schedule some of the events related to the 2023 G20 summit in Ladakh has come to light ahead of a proposed meeting between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at Bali in Indonesia.

Jaishankar and Wang will attend the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Bali on Thursday and Friday.

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They may hold a bilateral meeting on the sideline of the conclave in order to end the stalemate in negotiations to resolve the more-than-two-year-long military stand-off along the disputed boundary between India and China in eastern Ladakh.

The main events of the 2023 G20 summit are proposed to be held in New Delhi and construction works are now going on to give Pragati Maidan in the national capital a facelift and to turn it into the venue for the conclave.

New Delhi, however, also has plans to hold some of the events related with the G20 in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, two new Union Territories of India. Islamabad opposed New Delhi’s plan as it perceived it as a move by India to assert its claim on Jammu and Kashmir as an integral part of its territory and reject Pakistan’s claim on it before the international community. China too echoed its “iron brother” Pakistan. A spokesperson of the Chinese Government’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told journalists in Beijing that the dispute between India and Pakistan over Jammu and Kashmir should be resolved according to the United Nations charter and no side should take unilateral moves that might complicate the situation.

Pakistan and China are also likely to oppose India’s plan to hold some events in Ladakh.

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The Modi Government had in August 2019 stripped the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and reorganized it into two Union Territories.

Pakistan, supported by China and Turkey, had then launched a campaign, making a renewed attempt to internationalize its dispute with India over Jammu and Kashmir.

India had blocked all attempts by Pakistan and China to bring the issue of Jammu and Kashmir back on the formal agenda of the United Nations Security Council.