New Delhi: Even as India hired a second lobbying firm, the country’s troubles on Capitol Hill show no sign of ending with a new resolution introduced in US Congress urging it to lift the communications clampdown, release political detainees and preserve religious freedom in Kashmir expected to pass.
The resolution, introduced in the house on December 6 by the first Indian American congresswoman, Pramila Jayapal, has been co-sponsored by Republican house representative Steve Watkins from Kansas. New Delhi hopes the resolution will be undermined by some of the controversies surrounding Watkins – of unwanted sexual advances and exaggerated claims about his past.
This is the second resolution on Kashmir introduced in three weeks. Earlier on November 22, Rashida Talib introduced a resolution “condemning the human rights violations taking place in Jammu and Kashmir and supporting Kashmiri self-determination”. Till Saturday, the Congress’ online database did not show any additional co-sponsors for Talib’s H.Res. 724.