Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], August 20 (ANI): PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday criticised the visit of US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor to Srinagar, saying that foreign dignitaries' visits to Jammu and Kashmir are "curated" since 2019 and do not include interactions with people from different sections of society.
US Ambassador Sergio Gor on Wednesday called Jammu and Kashmir an "important part of India" after meeting Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in Srinagar during the first standalone visit by the US envoy to the Union Territory since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
Speaking about Gor's visit to Srinagar, Mehbooba said that before 2019, foreign ambassadors visiting the region would meet people across sections of society, while such interactions have now been restricted.
"Before 2019, whenever any Ambassador would come here, they would meet people from every section of society... After 2019, foreign dignitaries' tours are curated. They met only the Chief Minister and the Governor, took a shikara ride, and left," she said.
The PDP chief also agreed with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's assertion that the problems of Jammu and Kashmir cannot be resolved by the United States and said the responsibility lies with the Centre.
"I agree with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's statement that the problems of Jammu and Kashmir cannot be solved by America. This task will have to be done by New Delhi," she said.
She alleged that thousands of people from Jammu and Kashmir remain imprisoned and claimed that people are being dismissed from government jobs.
"Thousands of our people are imprisoned, and our people are being fired from jobs every day. There is a suffocating atmosphere in Jammu and Kashmir," she said.
Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) president and MLA Tariq Hameed Karra also questioned Gor's statement that Jammu and Kashmir is "an important part of India".
"I don't know why he should have said this. Jammu and Kashmir has been an integral part of India and will continue to be so," Karra said.
He said the importance being attached to Jammu and Kashmir by the US envoy reflects a failure of the present dispensation.
"The importance he is trying to give to J&K is a failure of the present dispensation. After 1971, none of the countries intervened, and it is only during the BJP regime that we are seeing third-party interventions," Karra said.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, CM Omar Abdullah, Gor commended the security efforts made by the Union Territory adminstration and Centre to make Jammu and Kashmir safer, and signalled a potential shift in Washington's stance by indicating that the US may re-evaluate and "downgrade" its highest-level travel warning for Jammu and Kashmir.
"This is an important part of India, and so I'm here visiting for the first time. It's an incredibly beautiful place, and so I'm thrilled to be here, thrilled to see this place. We had a very good meeting, and we have some follow-ups that we'll take back to Washington, back to Delhi. We look forward to building this relationship forward," he said.
The US envoy said some "incredible steps" have been taken to keep Jammu and Kashmir "safer" and the US will review its travel advisory. Notably, at present the US has a Level 4 "do not travel" advisory for its citizens.
"The United States puts out travel warnings, and every so often we re-evaluate those travel warnings. I cannot make any big announcements here today, but it is something that we are going to look at. New Delhi, the Chief Minister here, the Government here--we believe have made some incredible steps to keeping this area safer and making it safer," Gor said.
"So, we will be looking at if the travel warning that is imposed... is something that should be downgraded. This is a beautiful area; I think a lot of Americans would enjoy coming here and seeing the beauty and opportunity that exists here," he added. (ANI)
Foreign dignitaries' tours "curated" post 2019; meet only CM, LG: PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti after Sergio Gor's Srinagar visit
