‘Kashmir problems won’t be solved from Washington’: Omar Abdullah ahead of meeting with US envoy

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said the Union government, and not Washington, must resolve the issues concerning Jammu and Kashmir, ahead of his meeting with US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor.

Abdullah said he would not raise the internal issues facing Jammu and Kashmir during his meeting with Gor, scheduled to take place 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.

He also indicated that he would prefer to listen to the US diplomat during the meeting.

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

Abdullah's remarks come weeks after he triggered a political controversy by saying he may have to protest outside the White House and approach US President Donald Trump if protests in Delhi failed to secure the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's statehood.

The BJP had accused the chief minister of attempting to internationalise the Kashmir issue after he made the remarks. His comments came in response to BJP leaders who had said that the proposed National Conference protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi would not help restore J&K's statehood.

Gor's visit to Kashmir is being closely watched as a significant US diplomatic engagement in the region. He is the first top US diplomat to visit Kashmir since Operation Sindoor and the 2020 Galwan Valley clashes between Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh.

Gor also serves as US President Trump's Special Envoy for South and Central Asia.

The visit comes amid heightened strategic developments in the region and growing engagement between Trump and Pakistan's civil-military leadership. Islamabad recently played a mediating role during the Iran war, while Trump's praise for a NATO-style trilateral defence agreement involving Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey has raised concerns in India.

The US ambassador's meeting with Abdullah also carries significance against the backdrop of criticism over the prolonged delay in restoring democratic representation in Jammu and Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370 and the withdrawal of its statehood in 2019.

With an elected government now in place, Abdullah's meeting with Gor marks only the second instance in 15 years of a US ambassador to India meeting the elected chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir.

India has maintained that the military confrontation with Pakistan following Operation Sindoor ended after Islamabad sought a ceasefire. Trump, however, has repeatedly claimed that he intervened to stop the conflict in May last year and saved millions of lives, a claim India has not endorsed.

The last US ambassador to visit Srinagar was Kenneth Juster, who travelled to the city in January 2020 as part of a multi-nation diplomatic delegation organised by the Indian government, months after the abrogation of Article 370.

Gor is expected to travel to Ladakh on Thursday. It will be his first visit to the Himalayan region since the Galwan Valley clashes in June 2020.

The US had strongly backed India during the border crisis with China, condemning Beijing's attempts to alter the status quo along the Line of Actual Control. Washington also provided India with real-time intelligence and high-altitude equipment as part of the two countries' growing defence partnership.