New Delhi: US Ambassador Sergio Gor met Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday during a significant visit to the Union Territory.
It marked the first trip by a US envoy to Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 and the Pahalgam attack.
After the meeting, Gor said he discussed Abdullah’s priorities for Kashmir and opportunities to strengthen economic ties. “We discussed ways to deepen economic collaboration and create opportunities that would mutually benefit both of our nations,” Gor wrote in a post on X.
He also said, “It’s a pleasure to be here…This is an important part of India. I am here, visiting for the first time. It is an incredibly beautiful place. I am thrilled to be here, thrilled to see this place. We just had a very good meeting. We have some follow-ups, so we hope to take back to Washington, back to Delhi. But a very warm, a very cordial and we look forward to building this relationship forward.”
Meetings in J&K
Gor will also meet Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha during his visit. He is scheduled to travel to Ladakh on Thursday. The visit comes seven years after the Centre ended Jammu and Kashmir’s special constitutional status and divided the former state into two Union Territories.
Reports have suggested that Gor may meet representatives of trade bodies and civil society members in Srinagar. However, officials have not confirmed any such interactions. The visit also comes amid stronger strategic ties between India and the United States. Gor recently met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and discussed counter-terrorism cooperation.
First meeting in 15 years
The meeting carries significance because no serving US ambassador had met a sitting Jammu and Kashmir chief minister for more than 15 years. The previous such interaction took place in 2011, when then US Ambassador Timothy Roemer met Abdullah. Kenneth Juster was the last US envoy to make a standalone visit to Kashmir in 2018, soon after the collapse of the PDP-BJP coalition government. Gor’s trip also marks the return of direct engagement between a US envoy and the elected government of Jammu and Kashmir.
Abdullah plays down visit
Abdullah, however, played down the political importance of the meeting. He said he would not raise complaints about Kashmir with the US ambassador. “Washington won’t solve our problems; the Centre will. I would rather listen to him instead of complaining,” Abdullah told reporters.
The National Conference government has repeatedly asked the Centre to restore Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood. Abdullah made it clear that any resolution of the Union Territory’s political and administrative concerns must come through engagement with the central government.
