Pune NGO to explain India’s case for J-K on US trip

MARCH 29: The Indian Initiative for Peace Arms Control Disarmament (IMPAD), an NGO affiliated to Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan is taking the first step towards promoting peace and furthering the Indo-US understanding which received a major fillip after United States President Bill Clinton’s visit to India.

Lt Gen Eric Vas (retd) and Col Anil Athale (retd) of IMPAD will be undertaking an extensive tour of the US and Canada from March 31 to put forward the Indian point of view on the Kashmir issue at the invitation of the Brookings Institute. Col Athale will deal with Kashmir making it clear that India cannot afford any kind of compromise on this issue while Lt Gen Vas will speak on the nuclear issue advocating the middle path for India which means developing the country’s potential to the full extent without resorting to devoloping weapons and yet not joining the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty.

The duo are expected to meet US State Department and also address think-tanks at University of Illinois besides a couple of universities in Canada and Toronto. The 15-day tour includes an extensive interaction with the Indian community in the US. The visit is also likely to include a halt at New York at the Council of Foreign Relations and Columbian University.