Turkiye, Egypt to skip G20 summit hosted by India in occupied Kashmir 

ANKARA – Turkiye and Egypt have announced not to attend the upcoming G20 meeting in Indian-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

It is a fresh blow to the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi after China firmly opposed holding any form of G20 meetings in disputed territories.

India has a plan to host the G20 summit meeting on tourism from May 22 to May 24 at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Center in Srinagar, Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. For the event, New Delhi has sent invitations to international institutions and guest nations. 

Turkiye has been raising the Kashmir issue at the international forums, urging them to play active role in finding solution to the long-standing dispute. 

Reports said India had invited Egypt but the Middle Easter country did not complete the registration process of the G20 summit as it has decided to skip it. 

Pakistan has also disagreed with New Delhi's choice to conduct the summit in occupied Kashmir. 

The Foreign Office also issued a statement earlier, stating that Pakistan completely rejected any attempt by India to hold the G20 summit in the disputed region. 

“As is well-known, Jammu and Kashmir is an internationally recognized “disputed” territory between Pakistan and India. The territory has been under forcible and illegal occupation of India since 1947 and this dispute has remained on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council for over seven decades. India is responsible for widespread atrocities and egregious human rights violations in IIOJK.”

“Since India’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019, Indian occupation forces have killed 639 innocent Kashmiris in extra-judicial murders. Numerous reports of the UN, including the two commissioned by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in 2018 and 2019 have re-confirmed ongoing Indian atrocities against the Kashmiri people.“

“Most ominously, India has been seeking to change the demographic structure of the occupied territory in flagrant violation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions, international law, and the 4th Geneva Convention.

“Contemplating the holding of any G20 related meeting/event in IIOJK, in utter disregard of the globally acknowledged “disputed” status of the territory, is a travesty that the international community cannot accept under any circumstances, the FO statement said.