Washington, July 8 - Noting that no nation has suffered more from terrorism than India, an influential US lawmaker wants Washington to help it break with the perilous politics of South Asia's past for the long-term safety of the US, Pakistan and India.

'First, we have to help India break with the perilous politics of South Asia's past,' said Senator John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Tuesday at the confirmation hearing of Tim Roemer as the new US ambassador to India.

'India needs no lectures. Virtually no nation has suffered more from terrorism than India, he said. 'South Asia is also a volatile nuclear flashpoint.'

The recently passed Kerry-Lugar bill to triple US non-military aid to Pakistan to recast US relationship with Islamabad, 'wll help us to secure the long-term safety not only of the US and Pakistan, but of India as well,' Kerry said.

Kerry, a former Democratic presidential candidate who visited India shortly after the Mumbai terror attacks, said: 'I know the volatility that was felt then. But the degree to which there is still an excessive focus on India-Pakistan border issues is really almost an anachronism in today's world.