Denying reports that there were plans to shift the G-20 meeting the venue from Amritsar due to law and order issue, Punjab Chief Secretary VK Janjua on Sunday made it clear that Punjab leg of G-20 meetings in Amritsar are as per schedule. He alleged that certain people were unnecessarily spreading rumours.
The Chief Secretary said that he had confirmed at the highest level and the “Summit is as scheduled at Amritsar”.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP from Rajya Sabha Vikramjit Singh Sahney also clarified that the event will be held as per schedule later this month. “Happy to inform that as of now @g20org meeting is confirmed at #Amritsar during 15-17 Mar as scheduled. Punjab is fully capable of hosting an international event & one stray Incident cant be reflection of State it will be a memorable event,” he tweeted.
“As soon as heard rumours I swung into action since mrng called mea, ministry of education, g20 secretariat. There was a discussion on law and order but good sense prevailed and G20 meet is happening in Amritsar as scheduled,” said Vikram Sahney.
The reports were coming that the venue of the G20 meeting is likely to be shifted out of Amritsar owing to the law and order situation. It was claimed that the decision, to shift the venue of meeting to Amritsar, had been taken in wake of incidents like the storming of Ajnala police station, a threat by Sikh for Justice (SFJ), and some others.
Amritsar is scheduled to host G20 meetings on education from March 15 to 17; and L20 meeting on labour from March 19 to 20. The State Government along with the District Administration are already making arrangements in the city to welcome the foreign delegates.
The District Administration maintained that the talk about cancellation of G-20 meeting in Amritsar is “baseless”. “So far, no official letter about this has been received from Delhi or Chandigarh,” said Deputy Commissioner Harpreet Singh Sudan. However, the opposition — especially the Congress — have lashed out at the ruling AAP over the reports of possible shifting of venue from Amritsar to Delhi. “Conspiracy to exclude Sri Amritsar Sahib from #G20 hosts list became known when national channels started highlighting Amritpal. This is suggestive of the utter failure of intel & law enforcement agencies,” tweeted Congress MP from Amritsar Gurjeet Singh Aujla.
Congress MLA from Bholath Sukhpal Singh Khaira tweeted, “If news of the cancellation of G-20 Summit in Amritsar is true it's a major setback for PB as our reputation as a safe haven for investment will be trashed apart frm loosing national & international reputation! @BhagwantMann needs to set his house in order & not take orders from Delhi.”
Another Congress MP Jasbir Singh Dimpa tweeted, “This is an unfortunate development that would show Punjab in a very bad light on the global level. The G-20 Summit that was to be held in Amritsar this month has been cancelled by the Government of India, keeping in view the Ajnala incident and the activities particularly being done by the radical Sikhs.”
Dimpa had also urged the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to call an all-party meeting and take a joint move to urge the Prime Minister, the Union Home Minister, and other concerned departments to rollback the decision. “We didn’t have any other opportunity other than this for gaining the limelight that would have helped for the overall development of the state. I believe that Amritsar was being defamed by the Centre taking an excuse of Ajnala incident. I appeal to the CM to rise above the party lines and call up all the leaders jointly to take up the matter with the PM and HM against shifting the G-20 Summit,” he said.
