SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 21: The New Hampshire State Senate, by majority voice vote, on Thursday passed a Resolution urging the United States Congress to hold hearings in the Kashmir conflict.

The resolution also urged all parties concerned with the dispute to abide by the United Nations Charter on Human Rights.

The New Hampshire State House had passed a similar resolution last week by voice vote.

The New Hampshire Legislature has become the first US state to ask the Congress to open an inquiry into the Kashmir problem. The US Congress has never held hearings on the issue, despite its growing strategic importance to world peace.

Representative Robert Giuda, prime sponsor and Deputy Majority Leader of the NH House, told reporters, “What makes this particular conflict so dangerous is the fact that both India and Pakistan possess nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them.”

Representative Giuda is leading a delegation of members of the New Hampshire Legislature to Kashmir later this month, along with several members of the media.

They will use the self-funded trip to meet with local and high-level Pakistani and Kashmiri officials, visit refugee camps, and hold local public forums with Kashmiris to discuss the conflict.

The group is awaiting a response from the Indian government as to whether a similar fact-finding visit can be arranged to the Indian-held portion of Kashmir.