US Ambassador to India and President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy for South and Central Asia Sergey Gor during his visit to Indian-administered Kashmir has described Kashmir as an “important part of India” and praised the performance of the local administration.
Sergey Gor’s two-day visit to Kashmir and Ladakh was being given extraordinary importance due to their special status, however, in a brief conversation with journalists after meeting Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, he adopted a cautious and almost neutral approach.
He said: “I am very happy to come to Kashmir, it is a very beautiful place.”
He said that his meeting with Omar Abdullah took place in a pleasant atmosphere and various important issues were discussed.
“I have to discuss the topics of this conversation further in Washington and New Delhi, while we still have more meetings to go.”
On this occasion, Omar Abdullah termed the meeting as satisfactory and said: “Obviously, there are some inherent issues that will have to be worked on in the coming time, but these discussions will continue between Sergey Gor and Washington as well as between me and New Delhi. We hope that in the coming years, the relationship between the United States and Jammu and Kashmir will become broader and deeper.”
In response to a question about the travel restrictions on American citizens traveling to Kashmir, Sergey Gor said that these restrictions are reviewed from time to time.
He said: “This is a very beautiful valley. New Delhi and the local administration have done remarkable work to improve the situation and make this region more secure. I will not make any major announcements in this regard, but my personal opinion is that the travel restrictions related to Kashmir should be relaxed.
Sergei Gor will leave for Ladakh after an overnight stay in Srinagar.
This is the first meeting of a US ambassador with the Chief Minister of Kashmir in almost 15 years. Earlier in 2011, the then US ambassador Tim Roemer had met the then Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in Srinagar.
Due to Sergey Gor’s closeness to President Trump and his role in South and Central Asia, various speculations were being made regarding this visit.
Former Chief Minister and leader of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Naeem Akhtar, said in a statement on social media: “Sergey Gor is not only the US ambassador but also President Trump’s special envoy for South and Central Asia, hence the importance of this visit.”
He added that the importance of this visit has increased after President Trump praised the defense agreement between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
A few hours before Sergey Gor’s arrival in Srinagar, Omar Abdullah had said in a press conference: “I will discuss the Kashmir issues with New Delhi, not with any foreign country. Yes, they are coming, it is good, but I will listen more. Obviously, if they are coming to talk, we will also talk.”
It should be noted that a year after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, the Indian government had invited ambassadors of 15 countries, including the US, to visit Kashmir. During this visit, the government tried to highlight the position that the situation in the region has improved after the abrogation of Article 370.
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