US Congressional delegation seeks end to political detentions in Kashmir
NEW DELHI: Days before US President Donald Trump arrives in India, a senior Congressional delegation from both Republican and Democratic parties asked for political detentions in Kashmir to end, while emphasising the bipartisan support that India “enjoys” in the Congress.
Ami Bera, senior moderate Democrat leader and chairman of the House committee on Asia and Asia Pacific and George Holding of the Republican party met foreign secretary Harsh Shringla and other senior members of the Indian government.
Speaking to journalists, Bera said, “Obviously we have very large Indian American diaspora that talk to many members of Congress. Many members have approached me to get my assessment of Kashmir and the situation there. For the sake of the Kashmiri-American diaspora we wanted to tell them its in our interest to see a resolution and return to normalcy in Kashmir. I expressed my concerns about the continuing detentions of political leaders in Kashmir.”
He said he had asked the Indian government to take a US Congress delegation to Kashmir, however, adding that the recent visit by the US ambassador was a “positive” sign.
“Given the President’s visit, (it is) important to come to demonstrate bipartisan support for India in the US Congress. Within Congress that support for India remains strong. We understand the strategic importance of India, within the Indo-Pacific strategy. We hoped there would be a trade deal between two long time champions of free trade. We’re still looking for that deal, even a small one. We hope to see something beneficial to both countries.”
Holding said, “We have a lot of questions about Kashmir. I firmly believe that the way to success in Kashmir is increasing the economic opportunities there. The way to do that is to have a stable and predictable political situation that would be able to attract capital.” (ToI)
