This week's killing of pilgrims en route to the Vaishno Devi shrine demonstrates the urgency of solving the Kashmir issue, believes Senator Tom Harkin, a four-term Democrat lawmaker from Iowa.

Delivering the inaugural remarks at the International Kashmir Peace Conference in Washington, DC on Thursday, he said the "conflict has been going on between India and Pakistan since 1947, but you need to solve the problem."

Referring to India's recent peace initiative, the Senator, who is regarded by many Indian-Americans as pro-Pakistan, said  "I hope New Delhi and Islamabad will seize this opportunity to solve the longstanding problem." He said he was glad that the bus route between India and Pakistan had reopened and that Pakistani MPs had visited India and exchanged ideas.

"I am glad you are continuing the dialogue for peace," he said, thanking the Kashmiri American Council and the Association of Humanitarian Lawyers, San Francisco, for organizing the event. 

Congressman Joseph R Pitts, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, who is also seen as pro-Pakistan, said he and other members of Congress looked forward to the conclusions the speakers would develop during the two-day meeting.

Although there were no official representatives from India at the conference -- the Pakistan government was
represented at the ambassadorial level -- Pitts thanked "the governments of Kashmir, Pakistan and India" for their participation in the conference.

The tension over Kashmir needs to be resolved sooner rather than later to end the humanitarian suffering and to end opportunities for mavericks on either side of the issue to continue with violence for their own ends, he said.  

"The current increase in terrorism around the world with extremists in various religions manipulating those religions for their own ends, makes it imperative that a solution to the tensions over the Kashmir conflict be found."