Jammu, 19 August (H.S.): Ahead of the visit of United States Ambassador to India Sergio Gor, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday, said the Jammu and Kashmir's issues have to be resolved by New Delhi and not Washington, asserting that he would not complain to a foreign diplomat about the union territory's problems.

Ambassador Gor, who is also the Special Envoy for South and Central Asia, is scheduled to land in Srinagar on Wednesday afternoon. Gor will spend the night in Srinagar before leaving for Ladakh on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters in Srinagar after conducting an early morning tour of the city to inspect development projects and review the progress of key civic works, Omar said he was looking forward to meeting the American Ambassador but made it clear that he would not seek external intervention in matters concerning Jammu and Kashmir.

After a long time, a US ambassador is coming to Jammu and Kashmir, and I am meeting an American ambassador after a very long time. Let him come; we will talk to him, the Chief Minister said.

He added he was keen to hear the envoy's views.

I would like to hear more from him. But he is also coming to listen. Let's see what kind of conversation we will have, he said.

Omar said that discussions would focus on Jammu and Kashmir and the prevailing situation in the union territory.

.. Whether he listens or not, our problems have nothing to do with him. It is not my habit to complain to an ambassador from another country, he said.

Stressing that the responsibility for addressing the region's issues lies with the Centre, Omar said, Washington will not solve our problems. Our central government has to solve our problems. It would be wrong to complain to an ambassador from another country.

I will talk about Jammu and Kashmir and our situation, but I will not complain. I will not try to find a solution to our problems from him, he added.

This will the first meeting between a serving US ambassador and a sitting chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir in more than 15 years.

Interestingly, Gor had already undertaken visits to several Indian states, including Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra, where he interacted with political leaders.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Krishan Kumar