Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, commenting on Pakistan summoning the US envoy over US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor’s statement, said on Thursday that the ambassador had made his remarks and the matter was now between the two countries.

Omar Abdullah was reacting to reports that Pakistan had summoned the US envoy over Gor’s statement on Wednesday that Kashmir is an important part of India.

When asked about Pakistan summoning the US envoy over US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor’s remark that Jammu and Kashmir is an important part of India, Omar Abdullah said the matter was between Pakistan and the US.

“Whatever the US ambassador said, he said. Now it is between the two countries,” the CM said.

Hours after Gor’s remarks, Pakistan’s Foreign Office had summoned the US envoy in Islamabad and lodged protest over the remarks.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting Omar Abdullah on Wednesday, Gor said that the US would reconsider its travel advisories on Kashmir, noting that Kashmir is an important part of India.

This was Sergio Gor’s maiden visit to J&K after he took over his assignment as the US ambassador to India.

Earlier, Omar Abdullah had said he would discuss issues with the visiting US ambassador, but would not complain about anything since it was the central government that could address issues in J&K and not the US.

Gor graduated from George Washington University, where he was involved in conservative causes, participating in College Republicans and founding the university’s chapter of Young America’s Foundation.

He was an activist for Arizona senator John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign and worked for the Republican National Committee, later serving as the spokesman for representatives Steve King, Michele Bachmann, and Randy Forbes.

In May 2013, Gor began working for Kentucky senator Rand Paul’s political action committee, RANDPAC, eventually serving as Paul’s spokesman, communications director, and deputy chief of staff.

Supreme Court’s former Justice R. Subhash Reddy will head the five-member High-Powered Enquiry Committee (HPEC) constituted by the apex court to investigate allegations of police excesses during the students’ march from Jantar Mantar towards Parliament on July 20.

The other members of the panel are: the Punjab & Haryana High Court’s former Chief Justice Ravi Shankar Jha, Delhi High Court’s former judge, Justice Shalinder Kaur, the Central Bureau of Investigation’s former Director Rishi Kumar Shukla, and Meghalaya’s former DGP, Dr L.R. Bishnoi.

The Supreme Court said in its order that the constitution of the HPEC “shall in no way deter or debar the Police authorities or other security forces from taking administrative or disciplinary action against such of their officers as may be found to be in contravention of the rules governing their conduct”.

The issues identified for investigation by the Committee include allegations of excessive force, including pellet guns, electric batons, lathi charges and tear gas, as well as the question whether police responses were proportionate to the constitutional right to peaceful protest.

It will also examine whether police/security personnel were properly identifiable through uniforms and nameplates.

In its order delivered on Tuesday, a bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant directed the HPEC to look into “the use of excessive force and violence against protestors by police authorities and other agencies, including the deployment of pellet guns, electric batons, lathi charges, and tear gas without adequate warning or proportionality, resulting in severe bodily harm and injuries, some of which are alleged to be of a grievous and lasting nature”.

The Committee will also look into the necessity of ensuring that police and security personnel wear proper uniforms and visible nameplates at the time of effecting arrests or using force during crowd control operations, so as to secure accountability and enable the identification of individual officers.

The CJI clarified that the larger constitutional questions related to facial recognition technology, surveillance and privacy will be decided by the apex court itself and not by the committee.

The Supreme Court also directed the presentation of CCTV footage to the Committee for investigation.

“The Police Authorities, Para-Military Forces, and other Investigating Agencies, who were directed vide order dated July 28, 2026, to preserve all CCTV footage, drone footage, body-worn camera recordings, videography, wireless communication records, and PCR call logs pertaining to the student protests, and furnish the entire record to the HPEC and extend their full cooperation,” it said.

The court asked the Committee to complete its inquiry and deliberations and submit its ‘First Interim Report’ at the earliest.

Alleged violence, harassment, and molestation of women protesters; provision for medical assistance and compensation for injured protesters; use of prohibitory orders under Section 163 BNSS and whether Section 152 BNSS was used in a manner that could suppress peaceful political dissent will also be examined by the panel.

Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella has signed a decree declaring a 30-day state of economic, social and ecological emergency in parts of the country hit by the August 10 earthquake.

The decree, signed after a cabinet meeting in Bogota on Wednesday (local time), covers 15 affected departments, including Valle del Cauca, Risaralda and Caldas, as the government seeks to respond to what it described as a grave public calamity.

De la Espriella said the emergency measures were aimed at not only rebuilding damaged homes, but also restoring businesses and essential public infrastructure, including schools and hospitals, reports Xinhua news agency.

Colombia was facing the “most complex” fiscal situation in its republican history, making extraordinary measures necessary, he said.

The president said his government would cut spending on some non-priority programs from the previous administration to meet current national needs, while ensuring that the most vulnerable people were not affected.

According to figures released by Colombia’s National Unit for Disaster Risk Management as of Wednesday evening, the 7.4-magnitude earthquake in western Colombia had killed 319 people, injured 4,469 and left 260 missing. A total of 364 people had been rescued.

The agency said 476 municipalities across 15 departments had been affected, with some 272,830 people impacted by the disaster.

National and international search-and-rescue teams continued combing through the rubble to locate the missing people, with 358 people reportedly rescued so far.

Colombia’s Foreign Ministry said more than 220 tonnes of humanitarian aid had arrived in the country and 144 international specialists had joined emergency response efforts.

Many affected residents remained in temporary shelters and tents in parks in the hardest-hit areas of Valle del Cauca, Risaralda and Choco.