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Supporting India-Pakistan Pipeline Proposal
For Immediate Release - July 13, 2005

(Washington, DC) Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA) has introduced H.Res. 353 , bipartisan legislation in the House of Representatives expressing support for a natural gas pipeline linking India and Pakistan economically, and serving as a bridge to promote cooperation, not confrontation, among nations in the region

"This landmark project represents smart energy policy in a region that is experiencing immense growth and it also represents a positive development between two countries that have a long history of hostile relations," McDermott said. "It's good for the region and important to America because a significant portion of U.S. national security depends upon the peaceful relations between these two nations," McDermott added.

The development of a $4.1 billion pipeline that will transport natural gas from Iran through Pakistan to India is in its early phase and McDermott, an co-founder of the U.S. Congressional India Caucus, believes that an expression of support by the United States Congress will help encourage this project and encourage a philosophy of peaceful economic cooperation versus ethnic and regional confrontation.

"The U.S. is a strong supporter of peace between India and Pakistan," McDermott said. "My resolution recognizes the role this pipeline can play in furthering economic development and enhancing cooperative relations the two countries."

McDermott concluded: "Supporting the pipeline is the best way of showing the U.S. has not just been paying mere lip service to supporting peaceful relations between India and Pakistan. This is an opportunity to show that we mean it."