
JAMMU: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said that there was no need of United Nations Office in Srinagar now but clarified that issue falls in the domain of External Affairs Ministry and they have to take a call on it.
Responding to a question that whether the UN office should be closed in Srinagar as the situation has improved and the issue now is not Jammu and Kashmir but “Pakistan occupied Jammu Kashmir (PoJK)”, Sinha said the issue is not in his domain and the External Affairs Ministry will be in a better position to respond to this.
“But there is no need (of the UN office now in Srinagar),’’ he said in an interview with a national news channel.
“Prior to elected Government, the agenda was peace, development, investments and job. If elected Government also has similar agenda; neither we will have any problem nor the Government will have,’’ the Lieutenant Governor said.
Asked by the interviewer to rate Omar Abdullah Government, Sinha said four months time is too less to make an opinion but he has good liaison with the Government.
As per Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, he said, the powers of both (the Lieutenant Governor and the elected Government) are clearly defined.
“They (the Government) have their powers. We have our own powers and rights. Together we can take Jammu and Kashmir further towards development. During past five-six years, economy of J&K has improved. The economy has doubled since 2017. Per Capita Income has also gone up. Jammu and Kashmir Bank was in Rs 1200 crore losses and now it has shown Rs 1700 crore worth profits. There has been a good turnaround in five years,’’ Sinha said.(Agencies)