United States Ambassador to India and Special Envoy to South and Central Asia, Sergio Gor met Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday during his landmark visit to the Union Territory, marking the first trip by a US envoy to Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370.
The visit also comes after the 2025 Pahalgam terror attack, which triggered hostilities between India and Pakistan.
Following his meeting with Omar Abdullah, Gor said the discussions focused on the chief minister’s priorities for Kashmir and ways to strengthen economic cooperation between India and the United States.
After he met with CM Omar Abdullah, Gor said, “It’s a pleasure to be here…This is an important part of India. I am here, visiting for the first time. It is an incredibly beautiful place”
“I am thrilled to be here, thrilled to see this place. We just had a very good meeting. We have some follow-ups, so we hope to take back to Washington, back to Delhi. But a very warm, a very cordial and we look forward to building this relationship forward,” added US envoy.
“We discussed ways to deepen economic collaboration and create opportunities that would mutually benefit both of our nations,” Gor said in a post on X.
He will travel to Ladakh on Thursday.
The visit comes seven years after the Centre revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and divided the erstwhile state into two Union Territories.
There has also been speculation that Gor, who is considered close to US President Donald Trump, could meet representatives of trade bodies and members of civil society during his stay in Srinagar. However, there has been no official confirmation of such meetings.
Why Sergio Gor’s Kashmir visit is significant
Gor’s visit comes at a time when India and the US are deepening their strategic partnership. It also follows recent interactions between Gor and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on counter-terrorism.
The visit is significant as it is the first meeting between a serving US ambassador and a sitting Jammu and Kashmir chief minister in more than 15 years.
The last such meeting took place in 2011, when then-US envoy Timothy Roemer met Omar Abdullah.
The last standalone visit to Kashmir by a US envoy was made by Kenneth Juster in 2018, shortly after the PDP-BJP government fell.
Gor’s visit therefore marks a return to direct engagement between a US envoy and the Jammu and Kashmir government.
‘Washington won’t solve our problems’
Despite the significance of the visit, Omar Abdullah played down expectations from his meeting with Gor.
The chief minister said he did not intend to raise complaints about Kashmir with the US envoy and reiterated that the Centre, rather than Washington, would have to address the region’s issues.
“Washington won’t solve our problems; the Centre will. I would rather listen to him instead of complaining,” Abdullah told reporters.
The National Conference government has repeatedly demanded the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood since coming to power in the Union Territory.
