Siliguri hosts second-day event of 2nd G20 TWG meeting

G20 TWG meeting an opportunity to showcase India’s spiritual, cultural and natural heritage to the world: G Kishan Reddy

GANGTOK,: The 2nd G-20 Tourism Working Group Meeting which is being held in Siliguri and Darjeeling is a golden opportunity to showcase India’s spiritual, cultural and natural heritage to the world, stated Union Minister for Tourism, Culture and Development of North Eastern Region G.Kishan Reddy at the inaugural session of the second-day event in Siliguri today.

Addressing the inaugural session, Reddy said, “Siliguri is a gateway for the North East and provides amazing travel experiences, besides, fostering spirituality in various monasteries and temples and witnessing wildlife and natural beauty in the form of national parks, adventure in camping and water rafting and the like.” The minister added that Darjeeling Himalayan Railway which is commonly termed as toy train is already inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage list. He said Siliguri is important for being the combination of diversity, culture, tradition and natural beauty. It is an embodiment of India, a country where diversity delights, culture inspires, tradition speaks and beauty enthrals, he added.

More than 200 Buddhist monasteries, 40 UNESCO listed world heritage sites, more than 1 lakh State and national archaeological sites, lakhs of different religion prayer centres, living temples and others had already been highlighted in the first G-20 TWG meeting hosted in Rann of Kutch, Gujarat. Priorities were given to green tourism, digitalization, skilling, tourism MSMEs and destination management, the minister stated. 

Reddy said the vision of the second G-20 TWG Meeting is to project domestic tourism in mission mode. It will also make India maximize its potential in the tourism sector. In order to give boost to the tourism sector, this year, he remarked that the Government is observing “Vision India-2023”. “Vision India-2023 is a unique collective moment which invites the world to explore India in historic era. India’s G-20 Presidency and Shanghai Cooperation Organization are celebrating grant celebrations of 75 years of India’s Independence. Our vision is to make India a USD 1 trillion tourism economy by 2047, the centenary of India’s Independence celebrations with 100 million international visitors to India. To achieve this, the government is focusing on the conventions of various government-led initiatives under Public-Private Partnership,” he added.

The Union Ministry of Tourism has also formulated a comprehensive tourism policy with holistic flavour for a sustainable and responsible growth in the tourism sector in the country, he stated. The policy is improving the conditions for tourism development of the country supporting tourism industries, strengthening tourism highlights for the commitment to achieve sustainable development goals of the county, he added.

Welcoming the delegates in Siliguri, Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs John Barla said, “West Bengal is a land from where India got its national anthem. From the medieval time, Bengal happened to be the richest part of India in the fields of literature, art, social, culture.” Barla added that West Bengal is home to several litterateurs who are honoured by the world, RabindraNath Tagore, AmartyaSen, St. Mother Teresa and C.V. Raman to name a few. “West Bengal is a favourite tourist destination for not only India but the world as well and hence the infrastructure and promotion of tourism is going in tandem to invite more globe-trotters to this part of the country,” he commented.  

Union Tourism secretary Arvind Singh also spoke on the occasion. Among the dignitaries present included NandidniChakraborty, principal secretary, Tourism department, Government of West Bengal, and other senior tourism officials.

The day started with a yoga session, organized at Mayfair Tea Resort, Sukna by the Ministry of AYUSH for the delegates from the G-20 member countries. After that, a Himalayan Car Rally was flagged off by the Union Tourism minister accompanied by the Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs, Darjeeling MP RajuBista, tourism secretary and foreign delegates.