Union Minister Amit Shah reviews preparations for G20 meeting to be held in Srinagar in May

New Delhi, Apr 13 (PTI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday reviewed the
functioning of the security grid and all security-related aspects in Jammu and Kashmir and conveyed the Narendra Modi government’s unflinching resolve to the policy of zero tolerance against terrorism.

Shah also reviewed the preparations for a G20 meeting to be held in Srinagar next month and directed all relevant agencies to work in coordination for successful conduct of the event.

At the security review meeting, attended by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha among others, Shah took stock of the functioning of the security grid and various aspects related to security, an official statement said.

The home minister reiterated the Modi government’s unflinching resolve to the policy of zero tolerance against terrorism.

He also reviewed the area domination plan, zero terror policy, law and order situation, matters related to UAPA and other security-related issues.

Shah appreciated the efforts of the Jammu and Kashmir administration and security agencies for significant reduction in cross-border infiltration and improvement in law-and-order situation and stressed on strengthening routine policing.

India on Thursday dismissed Pakistan’s objection to the hosting of the G20 meetings in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and said these conferences are being organised across the country and it is “natural” to hold them in the two union territories too as they are its “integral and inalienable” part.

India is hosting a meeting of the G20 Tourism Working Group in Srinagar in May while a youth engagement group meeting is scheduled to take place in Leh later this month.

On April 6, Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police Dilbag 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.

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.

Those who attended the meeting included Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, DGP Dilbag Singh and other senior officials sources said.