Omar Abdullah Says J&K Issues Must Be Resolved by Centre, Not Washington

Abdullah said he would not raise the internal problems faced by Jammu and Kashmir with Gor during their scheduled meeting in Srinagar on Wednesday afternoon.

“The solution to our problems will not come from Washington. Our problems have to be resolved by our Central Government,” Abdullah said.

Last month, Abdullah triggered controversy when he said that if protests in Delhi failed to restore Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood, he would consider staging a protest outside the White House and approaching US President Donald Trump for the restoration of statehood.

The BJP had accused Abdullah of attempting to internationalise the Kashmir issue.

His remarks came after BJP leaders said that proposed National Conference protests at Jantar Mantar in Delhi would not restore Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood.

On Wednesday, Abdullah said he would prefer to hear what the US Ambassador had to say during their meeting.

“I would prefer to listen more from him (US Ambassador). He is also coming to hear us. Let us see what kind of discussion will take place,” Abdullah said.

Gor’s visit marks the first visit by the top US diplomat, who also serves as President Trump’s Special Envoy for South and Central Asia, to Kashmir after Operation Sindoor last year and the Galwan Valley clashes in eastern Ladakh in May 2020.

The visit is being seen as a significant US diplomatic engagement in recent years amid heightened strategic developments in the region.

After Operation Sindoor, US President Trump has repeatedly claimed that he stopped the war between India and Pakistan in May last year and saved millions of lives. India has not been comfortable with the claim.

India’s position is that the four-day military showdown ended after Pakistan requested a ceasefire.

In January 2020, then-US Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster visited Srinagar as part of a multi-nation diplomatic delegation organised by the government following the August 2019 decision to repeal Jammu & Kashmir’s special status.

Gor’s visit comes amid growing proximity between President Trump and Pakistan’s hybrid civil-military leadership following Islamabad’s recent mediation in the Iran war.

Trump’s praise for a NATO-type trilateral defence agreement between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey has also caused concern in India, adding significance to the US Ambassador’s visit.

Gor’s meeting with Omar Abdullah also carries significant diplomatic messaging. India had faced criticism over the absence of democracy following the inordinate delay in holding assembly elections after the abrogation of Article 370 and the stripping of Jammu and Kashmir of its statehood in 2019.

An elected government is now in place.

It is only the second time in 15 years that a US Ambassador to India is meeting the elected Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.

On Thursday, Gor is expected to visit Ladakh, marking the first visit by the US Ambassador to the Himalayan region after the Galwan Valley clashes between the Indian Army and China’s People’s Liberation Army in June 2020.

The US had strongly backed India, condemning China’s attempt to change the status quo along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh, and helped India with real-time intelligence and high-altitude gear for soldiers as part of the strategic defence partnership between the two countries.