Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators gather in Hamburg ahead of G20 Summit

 

HAMBURG: Over a 100,000 anti-capitalist demonstrators, including several thousand left-wing extremists, are out on the city's streets on Wednesday, ahead of the G20 summit.

The leaders of the world's top 20 economies alongside nearly 6,000 delegates – inclusive of several hundred journalists – are set to attend the G20 Summit in Hamburg on Friday. Accordingly, security personnel has been deployed to maintain law and order and avert any potential threat.

About 20,000 police officials will be deployed to protect the leaders and dignitaries arriving for the two-day meeting. Demonstrators are also expected to show up for the concluding demo under the slogan "Borderless solidarity instead of G20."

However, authorities anticipate that up to 8,000 potentially violent protesters from Germany and abroad may be present at the summit.

In the district of St Pauli, police on Tuesday night used a water cannon to disperse demonstrators from the streets. Security officials also cleared some tents in the same areas, where protesters had tried to stay overnight on the weekend.

As a result, camping has been banned in Hamburg for now out of concern for the summit and to avert the possibility that tents could be used to host the extreme-left militant scene.

'Social inequality'

According to the website of "Global Solidarity Summit" – an alternative event, a wide range of issues, such as poverty, exploitation, oppression, war, environment, racism, misogyny, and homophobia, will be discussed in the two-day event.

"The G20 defends a system that boosts social inequality," the website says. "We point out the links between global problems and discuss alternatives that can provide a solution."

Firsts and more

At the summit, US President Donald Trump will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time, face-to-face.

Host Chancellor Merkel is also scheduled to meet the American president Thursday evening – a day before G20 kicks off. It will be their third vis-a-vis talk since Trump took office back in January.

In the given negative political scenario between the US and Russia, the least one can expect is the beginning of a dialogue between the two countries.

Among other world leaders, Chinese President Xi Jinping is in Berlin for an official visit ahead of the G20. However, Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud will not be attending the summit.

Modi and the Kashmiris

Since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also be present at G20 Summit, Kashmiris living in the European countries intend to gather for a peaceful demonstration.

"Through the protest, the Kashmiri diaspora in Europe would draw the attention of the international community towards the Kashmir dispute and India’s state-backed terrorism in the occupied valley," Barrister Sultan Mahmood – the former Prime Minister of Azad Jammu Kashmir – said.

The PTI leader, on the other hand, will lead the July 8 protest in Hamburg.