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Need for Pak-India dialogue stressed

RECORDER REPORT

LAHORE: Pakistan and India should continue with the peace process by holding dialogues to resolve the outstanding issues including the Kashmir dispute.

This was the consensus view at a debate on 'need for a Pak-India dialogue', held jointly by Pak-India People's Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) and Journalist Resource Centre (JRC) here on Sunday.

Dr. Mubashar Hassan said that Pakistan and India must enter into a dialogue for the sake of peace in the region. He said that there was no concept of permanent friendships between the two sovereign states, and it varied from time to time to safeguard their state interests.

Mubashar said that with the immense economic pressure on both countries there were 99 percent chances that war would not take place, as each day would cost Rs 10 to 15 billion, if they engaged in war. However, he said, any insane decision from either side of the border might result in a war.

He said that both countries must abandon their aggressive policies and concentrate on the social and economic uplift of their people.

"Initiating a peace process does not mean that we should compromise on the Kashmir issue. We want that all the stakeholders i.e. India, Pakistan and Kashmiris, should sort out the issue by sitting across the table," he stated.

PIPFPD Chairman IA Rehman said that the majority of people in India were critical of Indian government's policies and were in favour of initiating meaningful dialogue for maintaining durable peace in the region.

Quoting the end of centuries-old strife between France and Germany, he said that both the states maintained their sovereignty and ensured peace without compromising on their ideological identities.

Rehman said: "We should compete with India only in the field of economy and technology, instead of arms race."

Iftikahr Chaudhry, Secretary General of the Forum, highlighted the need of a meaningful dialogue to defuse tension between the two countries. He advised both governments to abandon their aggressive policies against each other and work for the betterment and prosperity of their nations.