With India assuming the Presidency of the G-20 Group of Countries, the University of Kashmir will be among 15 premier academic institutions in the country to represent the nation in hosting the prestigious Youth-20 events.

The Y20 events are being held in line with the Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's vision that calls upon the country to present its experiences, learnings and models as possible templates for others, particularly the developing world, during India’s G20 Presidency.

J&K LG, Shri Manoj Sinha, who is the Honourable Chancellor of J&K Universities, has called for an active participation of educational institutions in the G20 meeting to be held in the Union Territory and asked the universities to conduct seminars and discussions on the G20 conference.

Vice-Chancellor KU Prof Nilofer Khan said it is an honour for the University of Kashmir to become a part of Youth-20 events being held under the aegis of the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS). She said academic institutions have been rightly chosen to realise the attainment of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the G-20 countries.

The VC said the University has already geared up to host the proposed University-level seminar.

A high-level committee has already been constituted in the University for necessary preparations and arrangements related to the Y20 event.

“We will be regularly holding discussions in this regard with all relevant stakeholders so that we are able to fulfill our mandate with all determination and success,” she said, urging the varsity’s faculty to contribute in advancing the G-20 agenda among the students and research scholars so that the same is disseminated through community engagement at grassroots.

The University is joining the ‘Initiating Workshop for Y20 Events’ being held at IIM Raipur on January 28, 2023.

Notably, the Youth-20 is a G-20 engagement group constituted in the run up to Youth-20 Summit to be held at Varanasi in June 2023 and the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has decided to hold various seminars in universities across the country to disseminate the country’s G-20 agenda to the wider public at grassroots.

The Ministry has entered into a MoU with the University of Kashmir for organising pre-Summit events as a prelude to the main Youth-20 Summit.

Delegates from G20 countries will be participating in the Y20 event in the University, which is shortly writing to other sister universities in the UT seeking their participation in the event.

The proposed Y20 aims to increase the understanding of youth in the thematic area and provide a forum for healthy discussions and dissemination of India's G20 agenda.

The broader themes for the Y20 Summit, among others, include Industry 4.0, Innovation and 21st Century Skills; Start-up India Policy; National Education Policy-2020; India’s Digital Revolution; Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction; National Action Plan on Climate Change; Peace Building and Reconciliation; Youth in Democracy and Governance, besides Health, Wellbeing and Sports.