Friend of India Richard Lugar loses Indiana Senate primary

Washington, May 9: Indiana Senator Richard Lugar, a known friend of

in the Congress who played a key role in passage of the civil nuclear deal during Bush Administration, has lost the primary Senate elections in his state.

Lugar, a six-term Senator, lost to Indiana state Treasurer Richard Mourdock. His defeat yesterday brought an end to the political career of one of the longest serving Republican Senator spanning more than three and half decades.

He was the main target for national conservative groups, including the fiscally conservative Club for Growth, the National Rifle Association and the Tea Party-affiliated Freedom Works, who spent more than USD 3 million in advertisement against him.

In a statement, US President Barack Obama said his administration's efforts to secure the world's most dangerous weapons has been based on the work that Lugar began, as well as the bipartisan cooperation we forged during his first overseas trip as Senator to Russia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.

"Senator Lugar comes from a tradition of strong, bipartisan leadership on national security that helped us prevail in the Cold War and sustain US leadership ever since," Obama said. Luger is the Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

As a key member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, first as its Chairman and then as its Ranking member, Lugar had played one of the most important role in passage of the India-US Civilian Nuclear Deal.|

He was also the architect of the Kerry-Lugar-Berman bill that assured Pakistan more than USD 7.5 billion in US aid to Pakistan in five years.

PTI