Amit Shah reviews J&K security situation ahead of G20 meet in Srinagar next month

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday reviewed the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir, including the Line of Control and International Border, sources said.

Shah was given a detailed presentation on the prevailing law-and-order situation in Jammu and Kashmir by security officials of the Central government and the Union Territory administration. National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police Dilbag Singh and other senior officials attended the meeting.

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The high-level meeting to review the security comes ahead of the G20 meeting scheduled to take place in Srinagar next month. The G20 tourism track meeting will be the first major international event to be held in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.

Diplomats and delegates from G20 member states, guest countries and several international organisations have been invited to participate in the event, as part of India’s G20 Presidency. The itinerary for the G20 delegates also includes visits to the ski resorts of Gulmarg, Pahalgam and the Dachigam National Park, which is home to endangered Hangul or Kashmiri stag.

The situation along the Line of Control and International Border, infiltration bids from across the border and attempts to target minority community members were discussed at the meeting here, they said.

On April 6, DGP Singh had said militancy has not ended in Jammu and Kashmir yet, but it is on the wane as the number of ultras has declined to an all-time low. He said local youths, who were pushed towards militancy, have now returned to the mainstream after leaving that path.

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On March 30, a suspected Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast rocked a border hamlet in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district, creating a huge crater in the ground.

There were several targeted killings in Jammu and Kashmir in previous years. The government had informed Parliament that as many as 118 civilians, including five Kashmiri Pandits and 16 other Hindus and Sikhs, were killed in J&K since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 till July 2022. In May 2022, four Hindu pilgrims were killed and at least 20 injured when their bus caught fire near Katra in Jammu.

(With Agency inputs)