The European Union (EU) has voiced serious concern over worsening ties between Pakistan and India, urging the two nuclear-armed neighbours to resume the stalled peace process.
Briefing the National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs on Wednesday, EU Head of Delegation to Pakistan Ambassador Lars-Gunnar Wigemark said recent deterioration of relations and the exchange of fire at the Line of Control (LoC) and working boundary were worrying signs.
“Efforts to re-launch bilateral dialogue should remain a priority; the EU underlines this message both in Islamabad and Delhi,” he added.
This is the first time 27-member economic bloc has strongly expressed concern over the strained ties between Pakistan and India.
The EU envoy’s statement came a day after Prime Minister’s Adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz painted a grim picture about the prospects of resumption of composite dialogue with India. Aziz insisted that the ball was in India’s court as Pakistan had never shied away from the peace talks.
India pulled out of the foreign-secretary level talks in August at the eleventh hour as protest over Pakistani High Commissioner’s meeting with Kashmiri leaders.
During the recent summit of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in Nepal, there was no structured meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, although the two leaders shook hands at the concluding session.
The EU Ambassador told the parliamentary panel that despite bilateral irritants, the SAARC Summit demonstrated that regional cooperation was the way forward. This was especially illustrated by the agreement on energy, he said.
“The economic benefits of regional integration are well documented: larger markets, increased competition and lower prices for consumers. Regional integration in South Asia is indispensable. In the longer term, Pakistan’s largest trading partner should not be the EU, but its neighbours,” he said.
Turning towards the domestic issues, the EU Ambassador reiterated 27-member bloc’s support for democracy in Pakistan in the wake of ongoing anti-government protests, which some fear may lead to any unconstitutional step.
“Parliament is the primary institution enabling and safeguarding the democratic process. It demonstrated its strength in August when political parties expressed unequivocal support to the democratically elected government,” he said.
As questions are being raised about the fairness of last year’s elections, the ambassador said that according to the EU Election Observer Mission report the overall outcome was acceptable. “At the same time, it pointed out at a large number of irregularities and made 50 recommendations to improve the election process,” he said.
He stressed the need for electoral reforms enjoying bipartisan support in order to address the structural shortcomings in the electoral process.
The EU Ambassador also expressed concerns over the state of human rights in the country particularly the capital punishment, blasphemy laws as well as freedom of expression.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 4th, 2014.
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