Dec 30, 2015
News
‘Modi’s visit gives new hopes to peace initiatives in region’
Ex-high commissioner says India takes hard-line on inclusion of Kashmiri leadership in dialogue
INPLAHORE – Pakistan’s former high commissioner to India Aziz Ahmed Khan has said that the peace process between Pakistan and India was derailed because Pakistan wanted inclusion of Kashmiri leaders in the talks but India took a hard-line, jeopardizing the dialogue process.
He was addressing a roundtable talk on “Pakistan and India relations” which was jointly organised by the Pakistan Study Centre and the Pakistan National Forum at Undergraduate Study Centre, University of the Punjab here on Wednesday.
Punjab University Vice Chancellor Dr Mujahid Kamra, Pakistan’s former high commissioner to India Aziz Ahmed Khan, Former Chief of Air Staff Zafar A Chaudhry, Justice Faqir Muhammad Khokhar, Pakistan Study Centre Director Dr Massarrat Abid and Adviser to Vice Chancellor Ikram Ullah Khan and senior faculty members were present on the occasion.
Addressing the participants, Aziz said that the relations between Pakistan and India were very strained when India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi came into power. He made a comparison between the priorities of Vajpayee’s government – India’s ex-prime minister from BJP - and the present Modi government. He spoke on all irritants between Pakistan and India, including Kashmir, Siachen Sir Creek and water issue.
He said that in 1989 India was ready to withdraw its forces from Siachen but developments in region deteriorated the process. He said that in 1937 Sir Creek boundary was demarcated and it was a non-issue but later India backed out and it was turned into a dispute. He revealed that in 2007 independent surveys were conducted and maps were exchanged and an amicable solution was near to be sought.
The former high commissioner said that Kashmir dispute had been the bone of contention since independence. However, during Musharraf era, some major developments were made and some initial steps such as start of a bus service resulted in enhancement of people-to-people contact. He said that Mumbai attacks in 2008 changed the whole scenario.
He suggested that interference in each other’s affairs should be avoided by both the countries. He said that the trade relations with India would not harm the economy of Pakistan as trade with China had not brought negative impact to the economy. He also revealed that in 2005, Indian business tycoon Rattan Tata secretly visited Pakistan and offered to invest $5 billion but it could not be materialised.
Dr Mujahid Kamran in his speech stressed on the need to focus on education and research to deal effectively with the problems faced by Pakistan. He quoted verses of Holy Quran emphasizing on seeking knowledge.
Air Marshal Zafar A Chaudhry said that we had neglected the Quaid-i-Azam’s message of unity, faith and discipline and we had disintegrated ourselves into sectarian and ethnic divide.
Pakistan Study Centre Director Dr Massarrat Abid gave a brief overview of the factors which led to India’s prime minister visit to Lahore and described it as a positive move towards construction of better relations between Pakistan and India. It had given new hopes to the peace initiatives in the region, she said.
The round table conference concluded that only dialogue can deliver peace in the region and people-to-people contacts must be enhanced. Pakistan was willing to work for peace in the region but not at the cost of Indian hegemony.
Faculty members, researchers and PhD scholars of the centre and a large number of students from different departments of the university participated in the event and applauded the efforts of Pakistan Study Centre in highlighting issues of national importance.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk