"Coming To Listen To Us": Omar Abdullah On Meeting US Envoy In J&K

Omar Abdullah said that he will not raise internal problems faced by Jammu and Kashmir with the US ambassador Sergio Gor during the meeting scheduled on Wednesday afternoon in Srinagar.

19 Aug 2026, 06:21 · NDTV

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Omar Abdullah said Jammu and Kashmir issues must be resolved by India's central government
He said he will not raise J&K internal problems with US Ambassador Sergio Gor during their meeting today
US Ambassador Gor's visit is first to Kashmir since 2020 Galwan clashes and signals key diplomatic engagement

How does this meeting affect the current relationship between India and the US?
Srinagar:

Hours before his meeting with US ambassador to India, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that issues of Jammu and Kashmir have to be resolved by the central government and not Washington.

The Chief Minister said that he will not raise internal problems faced by Jammu and Kashmir with the US ambassador Sergio Gor during the meeting scheduled on Wednesday afternoon in Srinagar.

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

Last month, J&K Chief Minister stoked a controversy when he said if he needed to stage a protest outside the White House and approach President Trump for restoration of J&K's statehood if protests in Delhi are not enough to restore J&K's statehood.

The BJP had blamed Omar Abdullah for trying to internationalise the Kashmir issue.

Abdullah's comment came after BJP leaders said that proposed National Conference protests at Jantar Mantar in Delhi will not restore statehood of J&K.

Today, Abdullah said that he will prefer to hear the US Ambassador.

"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.

This is the first visit of 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 Galwan Valley clashes in eastern Ladakh in May 2020.

Gor's visit is 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. A claim India has not been comfortable with.

India's stand is clear that the four-day military showdown was stopped after Pakistan requested for 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.

This time, the visit has come amid growing proximity between President Trump and Pakistan's hybrid civil-military leadership following Islamabad's recent mediation in Iran war.

Trump's praise for NATO type trilateral defense agreement between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey has also been cause of concern in India. Thus, the visit by US Ambassador assumes significance.

Gor's meeting with Omar Abdullah is also a significant diplomatic messaging. India faced criticism over absence of democracy due to inordinate delay in holding assembly elections following the abrogation of Article 370 and stripping J&K of its statehood in 2019.

Now, an elected government is in place.

It's second time in 15 years, a US ambassador to India is meeting the elected chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir.

On Thursday, Gor is expected to visit Ladakh, the first visit by the US ambassador to Himalayan region after Galwan valley clashes between India Army and People's Liberation Army of China in June 2020.

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

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