March 13, 2016
News
Pakistani, Indian delegates lay stress on cooperation in agriculture, tourism sectors
JAIPUR: The third round of the 3rd India-Pakistan Legislators and Public Officials Dialogue on Sharing Experiences on Governance and Democracy was held in Jaipur, India on March 12.
Rao Rajendra Singh, MLA and deputy speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Rajasthan, chaired the dialogue that was facilitated by the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT) and the Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS). Participants included members of the parliament and state/provincial legislatures from Pakistan and India, practitioners and subject experts from the two countries who raised key issues and reform ideas covering the theme of Promotion of Agriculture and Tourism.
MP Mani Shankar Aiyar facilitated this cooperation between CUTS and PILDAT. Participants acknowledged that experiences on good governance in India and Pakistan in development of agriculture and tourism provided great potential for exchange of ideas and cooperation. The forum of the dialogue for exchange of ideas in this regard was appreciated. Participants stressed the need for more avenues of interaction and learning between the two countries. They agreed that each delegate had a responsibility to carry forward the proposals discussed for policy reform in the two countries. Need for a time-bound roadmap in this regard was also highlighted. Participants also underscored the need for facilitating greater engagement of the youth in the two countries in areas such as democratic and governance development.
Through discussion at the dialogue, the participants agreed that enormous potential of cooperation on tourism promotion existed in the two countries, but it remained untapped.
The participants said they believed that tourism offered a key avenue for promotion of peace between India and Pakistan. In addition, they stressed that the two countries must explore avenues for promotion of nostalgic and religious tourism. A lack of an efficient and relaxed visa regime was highlighted as a major stumbling block in promotion of tourism between Pakistan and India. The delegates urged the governments of Pakistan and India to adopt citizen-friendly visa regime allowing free access to citizens of the two countries.
The delegates stressed that potential for promotion of India-Pakistan tourism must be tapped, especially in areas bordering the two countries. In addition, both sides supported opening up of more points across the border such as Khokhrapar Monabao to facilitate travel and trade between the two countries.
The preferred scheme of tourism promotion for the two countries should be to focus first on in-country tourism, followed by promotion of regional and international tourism in the two countries. The participants highlighted the potential of learning offered by the good practices of the Palace-on-Wheels Train and a dedicated Tourist Police at regular police stations, where required. One of the proposals offered for joint tourism promotion between the two countries focused on facilitating the opening of offices of the tourism development bodies in each other’s country. T
he delegates said they believed that initiatives needed to be taken to encourage sports and cultural tourism between the two countries. The participants from both sides said they felt that one of the major impediments in promotion of tourism in the subcontinent was indeed the prevailing security environment, which could only be overcome by bridging the trust gap between the two neighbouring countries. Besides, there was a dire need to share intelligence and promote mutual cooperation to fight terrorism.
In the session focusing on learning from each country’s effective agricultural practices, the participants noted that both countries were beset by similar set of challenges in this regard.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk