Normalisation first: ‘India-Pak trade should get top priority’

Easier visas, more people-to-people contact proposed.

LAHORE:

People to people contacts between India and Pakistan should be encouraged at all levels and visa restrictions should be relaxed, delegates of a three-day conference on Socio-Economic and Cultural Relations between India and Pakistan said on the last day of the conference at the Punjab University on Wednesday.

The conference was organised by the Department of History and Pakistan Studies.

More than 50 delegates from India, China, Germany, UK and Korea attended the conference.

The concluding session was chaired by Professor Shariful Mujahid. Dr Muhammad Waseem, Sucha Singh Gill and Wolfgang Peter Zingel were among the guests.

The conference concluded on the note that only peace could bring about a positive change in the lives of South Asians. The delegates said that political and territorial conflicts between India and Pakistan had created impediments in the way of prosperity and progress of the region.



Delegates recommended greater people-to-people contact at various levels to create an environment conducive to resolution of conflicts, to improving relations and to moving past psychological barriers. This would help reduce the trust deficit and improve living conditions in both countries. Academic and intellectual exchanges should be promoted, delegates said. The conference also recommended collaborative projects on writing history and archaeological projects. Delegates said that economic linkages should be developed and trade between Pakistan and India should be given top priority.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 28^th, 2013.