WASHINGTON, Jan 29: The United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee has urged President George W. Bush Administration to "sustain active engagement" in South Asia in order to encourage continuation of Pakistan-India peace process.

Committee Chairman Senator Richard Lugar said this during a hearing in Washington on 'Pakistan-India: steps towards rapproachment'. Referring to the recent South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) summit in Islamabad, Senator Lugar said Pakistan and India moved forward along with their neighbours with an important regional free trade agreement and protocol on fighting terrorism.

He emphasized that stability in South Asian region was vital to the US interests because Pakistan-India conflict could escalate into nuclear war. He said a stable South Asia in which Pakistan and India engage each other would "eventually weaken extremists".

Senator Lugar felt that the leaders of the two countries would have to take difficult political decisions on longstanding disputes, including Kashmir. He noted that the US was highly encouraged by resumption of dialogue process between the two neighbours.-PPI