Srinagar- The United States will reconsider the advisories on travel to Jammu and Kashmir as the central government and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah have taken steps to make it a safer place, US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor said on Wednesday.
Jammu and Kashmir is an important part of India and an incredibly beautiful place, the US envoy said at a joint media briefing with Abdullah.
Gor reached Srinagar earlier in the day on a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
“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 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 more safe,” Gor said at a joint media briefing with Abdullah.
“So, we will be looking at if the travel warning that is imposed and recommended by the United States is something that should be downgraded because, as I said earlier, this is a beautiful area. I think a lot of Americans would enjoy coming here and seeing the beauty and the opportunities that exist here,” the US envoy added.
Gor called on the chief minister at his residence soon after reaching Srinagar.
“I am thrilled to be here. We just had a very good meeting and we have some follow-ups that we hope to take back to Washington (and) back to Delhi. But a very warm, a very cordial meeting and we look forward to building this relationship forward,” he said.
Gor will visit Ladakh on Thursday.
Abdullah said he discussed with Gor the relations between New Delhi and Washington with a specific focus on Jammu and Kashmir.
“It was a very good meeting. We had an opportunity to discuss the relations between our two countries, but with a specific focus on what the US can do with Jammu and Kashmir,” the chief minister said.
“There are obviously certain legacy issues that over time we will be working to resolve. But we look forward to taking this conversation further. This is a conversation that will take place both between Ambassador Gor and Washington, and between me and the Government of India in New Delhi,” he said.
Abdullah said he is very hopeful and optimistic that the engagement between the United States and Jammu and Kashmir will “both widen and deepen in the years ahead”.
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