BACKGROUND:

Senator Lugar on November 21st, 2003 in his opening statement during the nomination hearing of Mr. David Mulford, as the US Ambassador to India mentioned about the importance of taking bolder steps that foster stability and long term normalization of relations between India and Pakistan. He also mentioned about finding ways to encourage Indo-Pakistani dialogue.

http://foreign.senate.gov/testimony/2003/LugarStatement031121.pdf

ACTION REQUEST:

Please send an email to Senator Lugar of Indiana, Chairman Foreign Relation Committee of Senate thanking him and encouraging him to pursue US involvement in this issue further. Letter is attached below. You can send the same letter or your own.

Please write your full name, address and telephone number when you send in your letter.

Email Address: senator_lugar@lugar.senate.gov
_______________________________________________________________________________________

Honorable Senator Richard G. Lugar,

Chairman Foreign Relation Committee of Senate.
306 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Senator Lugar,

I want to commend you and thank you for your important and historical remarks that you made on the 21st of November, 2003 during the confirmation process for ambassador-designate to New Delhi, Mr. David C. Mulford.

I strongly agree with you that it is in the interest of United States to ensure stability in South Asia and promote better relations between India and Pakistan. The core and central issue to the current relationship between Pakistan and India is the disputed region of Kashmir. United States must take active, critical, important and ethical steps to help resolve the unsolved issue of Kashmir which has essentially kept the 1.5 billion people in the region hostage.

Both India and Pakistan have been spending significant proportion of their minute resources on arms, ammunition and armies where the same resources could be used for ensuring the future of the people of their countries. Both countries have significant public health issues along with illiteracy, poverty etc.

Your remarks come on the day when the United Nations approved yet another draft resolution asking that the people be given the right of self determination [The United Nations Fifty-Eighth General Assembly, Third Committee, 52nd and 53rd Meeting (Document A/C.3/58/L.31)]. This resolution is after 55 years of its first of many resolutions. As before, there was an almost unanimous approval of the many nations that people should be given the right of self determination. Unfortunately, once again India voted against this resolution.

Senator Lugar, your vision and views which you had communicated on Friday the 21st of November, are long overdue. We, as the strongest and the most powerful nation in the world, bear many responsibilities. One of them being, doing what is right and ensuring peace and stabilization to this part of the world.

Your leadership and determination can and will provide freedom to the people in Kashmir. Looking forward to your active pursuit of this issue and thus engraving your name in the history books as a person who helped save millions of lives and important US interests.

Sincerely,