Omar Abdullah Fact-Checks News Anchor On Claims On NC-US Diplomats Meeting
National Conference (NC) leader and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah has responded to a tweet by news anchor Rahul Shivshankar on the former’s meeting with US diplomats. In his tweet, the News18 anchor had claimed that U.S diplomats’ visit happened after the Jammu and Kashmir party invited them to convince the United States to withdraw travel advisories issued to US citizens against visiting the state.
Responding to the post, Omar Abdullah said that normally he would ignore misinformation and disinformation that is sought to be passed off as fact, adding that since he is an editor in chief & has a leadership role in the news organisation he will make an exception.
“Firstly NC did not seek a meeting with US diplomats, they reached out and asked us to meet them. Secondly, you seem to be poorly informed about the procedure foreign diplomats have to follow when visiting Kashmir so I’m attaching a screenshot of a recent Indian Express article & would request you to read the part about the permissions diplomats have to take so you don’t jump to conclusions again. Lastly, I’m so glad you’ve only objected to the diplomats meeting me & not the other politicians in Srinagar,” the former chief minister wrote, adding that it reassures him about where he stands in “the BJP/Sangh ecosystem.”
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Dear Mr Shivshankar,
Normally I’d ignore misinformation/disinformation that is sought to be passed off as fact but since are an editor in chief & have a leadership role in your organisation I’ll make an exception. Firstly NC did not seek a meeting with US diplomats, they reached… https://t.co/JbYGoE1Aa0 pic.twitter.com/LhLyPvIUVs— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) August 28, 2024
The delegation, visited the Jammu and Kashmir, included Minister-Counselor for Political Affairs at the US Embassy in Delhi Graham Mayer as well as First Secretary Gary Applegarth and Political Counselor Abhiram Ghadyalpatil. It was reported that the visit ahead of the poll in the state after the abrogation of article 370 and reorganisation of the erstwhile state in 2019, was part of a diplomatic outreach to meet all parties and asses the situation.
Citing the US Embassy in Delhi, news portal The Print reported that the consulate could not divulge the private diplomate conversation. Notably, US president Joe Biden had held a telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday.
The former chief minister, who had suggested that he would not contest the assembly election until the article 370 is restored, is all set to face the poll from Ganderbal constituency in central Kashmir, admitting that his earlier decision ‘not to field candidate’ was a mistake.
