Omar favours FDI in retail

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Saturday welcomed the decision to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail trade and hit out at the critics.

Abdullah, who has been of late sparingly using twitter to express his views, posted Saturday: "I'm glad the (central) government has announced FDI in retail and left to states to decide.

"Why should (West Bengal chief minister) Mamata (Banerjee) or (Uttar Pradesh chief minister) Akhilesh (Yadav) decide what is bad or good for Kashmir?" he asked.

In another tweet, he said: "I'm amazed that the defenders of federalism want to decide what is good for my state (Jammu and Kashmir) only because they have more MPs and can shout louder."

The chief minister has been a strong advocate of free trade. He has been trying to woo investment for various industries in the state including  infrastructure building, tourism and healthcare.