Security expert with Kashmir roots in race for US Congress

Washington, December 6

Krystle Kaul, an Indian-origin foreign policy and national security expert with roots in Kashmir, has announced that she will run for the US House of Representatives from a Congressional district in Virginia with a focus on core issues like public safety, education and healthcare.

Interest in Kashmir

I was very interested in learning more about Kashmir. I made it a point to focus my studies on understanding the conflict there… Krystle Kaul, US National Security Expert

Kaul, if elected in 2024, would be only the second Indian-American woman to be elected to the House of Representatives after Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal. Both Kaul and Susheela Jayapal, from the Democratic Party, will have to win the party’s primary next year to bag the party’s nomination for the November 2024 general elections. Fluent in eight languages — including Hindi, Punjabi, Dari, Urdu and Arabic — Kaul, the first Kashmiri-origin person to ever run for Congress, said her decision to run for the 10th Congressional District of Virginia came after Democratic Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton who has represented the constituency since 2019 announced her decision not to seek re-election.

Kaul has spent her professional life in the national security establishment from the Pentagon to think tanks and the defence industry.

She said education, healthcare and public Safety are the “three core issues” she would focus on in her campaign.

As a child, at her home in Long Island, where she grew up, she very often heard stories about the conflict in Kashmir from her father.

“..that was when my father was sharing accounts of the tension in Kashmir. I was very interested in learning more about Kashmir. I made it a point to focus my studies on understanding the conflict there…” she said.