Op-Ed video: India using G20 summit to normalise Kashmir occupation

India is using the G20 summit to normalise its occupation of Kashmir, argues Middle East Eye journalist Azad Essa.

Indian authorities have billed the summit as a way to showcase the developments that have taken place in the region since Delhi revoked Kashmir's semi-autonomous status and imposed central rule on the region.

Since the events of August 2019, the Indian government has embarked on an unprecedented crackdown on the region's media and civil society, with activists and politicians either being rounded up and arrested or placed on no-fly lists.

Several international activists and scholars have described the move to host a meeting focused on tourism and climate sustainability in a region occupied by hundreds of thousands of troops as hypocritical.

"The Indian government has passed a number of laws that not only facilitate the transfer of land to Indians, including the army, but also welcome Indians as residents into the region," says Essa.