Twenty-eight-year-old Fakhr-un-Nisa, a resident of Srinagar, was overjoyed when she heard the announcement by a few Indian government ministers that foreign tourists would soon start flocking to Kashmir again. This announcement was made after the G20 delegates’ meeting held in Srinagar last week.
A few years ago, after completing her training as a laboratory technician, Fakhr-un-Nisa decided to start her own business instead of taking up a job. She set up a travel agency and began earning her livelihood.
She says, “If foreign tourists really come, our business will flourish. The two years following the COVID-19 pandemic were so challenging that at one point, I considered giving it all up. But since last year, as the number of tourists increased, the business picked up. If foreign tourists come, there will be significant growth.”
Despite the boycott by China, Turkey, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, India held the third meeting of the G20 Working Group on Tourism at the International Convention Center in Srinagar under tight security. The area surrounding the beautiful Dal Lake, where the center is located, was sealed off for five kilometers, and special commandos from the Indian Navy, “Marcos,” were deployed in the lake.
The city had been adorned like a bride for months, and thorough searches were conducted everywhere just days before the meeting, with schools in many parts of the city being closed.
Dr. Jitendra Singh, a special minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, said, “Jammu and Kashmir is one of the most beautiful places in the world and is a cheap and suitable location for film shootings. Foreign tourists should come here, and the people of Jammu and Kashmir are participating in India’s journey of progress.”
He added that the separatist narrative had been defeated because ordinary Kashmiris had moved on. “Previously, if a conference of this scale were held here, separatists would call for a strike, and people would throw stones. But today, people are celebrating, and there is no disruption to normal life.”
After the abrogation of Kashmir’s autonomous status in August 2019, there was tension for a year, but the situation has been relatively calm compared to the past three years, and a large number of tourists have visited Kashmir during this period. According to officials, last year, 18 million tourists visited Jammu and Kashmir, out of which 2.6 million visited the Kashmir Valley. It was stated during the meeting that by the end of this year, 20 million tourists would visit Kashmir.
A tourist from Mumbai, Raj Shree Mandale, who was at Dal Lake in Srinagar, said, “I heard that the G20 meeting would be held here, so we made a plan. It’s my first time here; Kashmir is heaven. The mountains, lakes, valleys, everything here is so beautiful that I don’t want to go back.”
“If everything is fine, why don’t foreign tourists come?”
Many young people like Fakhr-un-Nisa have started earning a livelihood from the tourism industry. Some run travel agencies, while others have built hotels or guesthouses. It is worth noting that the tourism industry contributes only 8% to Kashmir’s economy, but more than 500,000 people are directly or indirectly associated with this industry.
A young Shikara (boat) operator in Dal Lake, who wished to remain anonymous, said, “If everything is fine and millions of people from India come here, then what is the problem? Why don’t foreign tourists come? I say that foreign tourists won’t come here just because of a conference. The Indian government needs to take concrete steps.”
When asked what those concrete steps would be, the young Shikara operator said, “On the visa of any foreign tourist coming to India, it says ‘except Kashmir.’ If they want to come to Kashmir, they don’t get insurance. A concrete step would be if India worked in this direction; only then would foreign tourists come.”
It should be noted that in 1990, when armed insurgency began, India imposed the ‘Disturbed Areas Act’ in Jammu and Kashmir, under which the entire region is classified as a disturbed or insurgency-prone area.
As a result, most Western countries have issued travel advisories for their citizens, stating that it is not safe to travel to Jammu and Kashmir.
During the insurgency in 1995, armed militants kidnapped six tourists, including an American citizen, and their two guides from the forests of Pahalgam.
After weeks of searching, the beheaded body of a Norwegian tourist was found, while the American tourist managed to escape. The whereabouts of the remaining four tourists are still unknown. Following this incident, several countries declared Jammu and Kashmir unsafe for tourism. This is why foreign tourists no longer visit Kashmir.
What is the significance of the G20 meeting in Kashmir?
Senior journalist and analyst Haroon Rishi says that hosting such a large-scale international event in Srinagar is, in itself, highly significant. “We must understand that India wants to send a message to the world that it has defeated the Pakistan-backed separatist ideology in Kashmir, peace has been restored, and people want to progress.”
However, Haroon further adds that while India is pleased with the successful conduct of this global event, he believes that the Indian governments have been trying for decades to remove Kashmir from the global radar. “The UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Rights opposed this event, and China boycotted it, accusing India of trying to garner global support for the abrogation of its autonomous status in 2019. In a way, India has brought the Kashmir issue back on the global radar.”
It is worth noting that India is presiding over this year’s G20, an alliance of 20 of the world’s most powerful economies, including the USA, China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and the European Union. Meetings are being held in 60 cities across all states and union territories of the country, with Kashmir being one of them.
Sheikh Omar, a hotel owner in Srinagar, says, “We are very happy to hear the announcement that foreign tourism will be revived. If this happens, I will take a loan from the bank and build another hotel.”
However, most hotel owners say that despite India’s declaration that the situation in Kashmir is peaceful, it has not removed the legal and diplomatic barriers to foreign tourism.
Hope for Prosperous Times
At the end of the meeting, during a press conference, Amitabh Kant, who oversees G20 meetings in India, became very angry when asked about the travel advisory issued by Western countries. “What travel advisory are you talking about? Where is the advisory? There are no restrictions. How did these people come then?”
Despite the ambiguity in claims regarding the revival of foreign tourism in Kashmir, people associated with the tourism industry here are hopeful that a prosperous era will begin after prolonged tension and economic crisis.
Travel agent Fakhr-un-Nisa says, “If foreign tourism resumes, I won’t just earn a livelihood for myself; I’ll also create job opportunities for others.”
