New Delhi, Sep 19 (Inditop.com) India and Pakistan have no alternative to serious dialogue to end the atmosphere of suspicion between them, said speakers at a public meet organised here by the Pakistan India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) Saturday.
“Cessation of dialogue cannot ensure that there will be no future attacks,” said human rights activist and PIPFPD general secretary Tapan K. Bose, adding that ever since the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, terrorists have set the agenda for relationship between the two neighbours.
“While terror politics represents a growing trend, the peace constituency in Pakistan is also quite strong. The Mumbai attacks and other similar violence on civilians is condemned by large sections of Pakistani society. The peace constituency has also grown over the years in India,” he said.
Sumit Chakravarty, editor of the Mainstream journal, warned: “The Pakistani state is reported to be in a crisis. There is a real threat of a civil war breaking out in that country. India’s interest is best served by strengthening the peace and democracy loving constituency in Pakistan.
“Can India insulate itself in case there is a civil war in Pakistan? Further, instead of closing our borders to Pakistani citizens, we should open up all borders in South Asia. It is people’s free exchange and opportunities for trade that are the best antidotes against extremism and terror,” he said.
Many speakers said that the joint statement issued by Pakistan and India at Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt, July 16 was a creative piece of diplomacy to set the dialogue process back on the track but the spirit of the statement was soon diluted.
“The ruling party, buckling under the attack, has continuously diluted the spirit and the interpretation of the joint statement,” said Father T.K. John of the Vidyajyothi College of Theology.
