Omar says honoured to be named young global leader
Srinagar, Jan 17 (UNI) National Conference (NC) Chief Omar Abdullah today said he was honoured and pleased to be among the 250 Young Global Leaders chosen by the World Economic Forum (WEF) for 2007.
''I am honoured and pleased at being recognised for my work over the past few years,'' Mr Abdullah told UNI.
''But, this recognition means nothing without the support and recognition of the people of Jammu and Kashmir for whom I continue to work,'' he said.
Besides Mr Abdullah, the other Indians chosen by the Geneva-based WEF are leading Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai, Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, film director and producer Karan Johar and NDTV's Vikram Chandra.
The Young Global Leaders were chosen from over 4,000 candidates by a selection committee of 34 international media leaders including Marjorie Scardino (Pearson), Arthur Sulzberger (The New York Times), Tom Glocer (Reuters) and Hisashi Hieda (Fuji Television Network). The committee was chaired by Jordan's Queen Rania.
The honour is bestowed each year on young global leaders in recognition and acknowledgment of their professional accomplishments, commitments to society and potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world.
Born on March 10, 1970, Omar is the only son of Dr Farooq Abdullah, the former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, and the grandson of the NC founder late Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah.
At the age of 28, Mr Abdullah became one of the youngest members of Parliament when he won the Lok Sabha elections in 1998.
Re-elected to the 13th Lok Sabha in 1999, he was made a junior minister in charge of Commerce and Industry in the Union Cabinet, headed by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and held the post from October 13, 1999 to July 22, 2001.
He was only 29 when he first became a Minister. Mr Abdullah was then shifted to the External Affairs Ministry as a junior minister and remained on the post from July 22, 2001 to December 23, 2002.
He was elected to the Lok Sabha for the third time in 2004 from the Srinagar parliamentary constituency as an NC candidate.
The WEF had earlier nominated Mr Abdullah as 'Global Leader for Tomorrow' in 2000-2001 and was also a panelist in the Special Economic Forum annual meeting at New York in 2002.
UNI