They were unanimous that the trust deficit should be removed particularly in the areas that divide the two countries to resume the dialogue for peace and reconciliation.
They were speaking on the first day of the ‘Pakistan-India Parliamentarians’ Dialogue’ arranged by PILDAT (Pakistan Institute of legislative Development and Transparency) at a local hotel on Thursday.
Senator SM Zafar from Pakistan and former Indian Minister for External Affairs Yashwant Sinha from India co-chaired the dialogue. Senate Deputy Chairman Jan Muhammed Jamali and National Assembly Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi opened the proceedings.
The Indian parliamentarians participating in the dialogue included Mani Shankar Aiyar, Vijay Darda and Naznin Faruque all members Rajya Sabha (Indian National Congress). Moreover, Shatrughan Sinha, member Lok Sabha (Bharatiya Janata Party), Assaduddin Owaisi member Lok Sabha (All India Majlis-i-Ittehadul Muslimeen) and Pradeep Majhi member Lok Sabha (Indian National Congress) also took part in the event. Pakistani parliamentarians engaged in the dialogue included Leader of the House in the Senate Nayyar Hussain Bukhari, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Waseem Sajjad, Senator Jahangir Badar, Chairman Senate Foreign Affairs Committee Salim Saifullah Khan, Chairman Senate Committee on Commerce Ilyas Bilour, Dr Donya Aziz, Chairman National Assembly Committee on Commerce Khurram Dastagir Khan, Lt Gen (retd) Abdul Qadir Baloch and others.
Former Foreign Ministers of Pakistan, Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri and Sartaj Aziz and former Federal Minister Javed Jabbar participated as observers to the dialogue. The dialogue will continue on Friday to further discuss the ways to promote peace and prosperity in the region.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 7th, 2011.
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