The Hindu : Front Page : We should set aside our suspicions: Natwar

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 18, 2005

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We should set aside our suspicions: Natwar

By Amit Baruah

LAHORE, FEB. 17. The External Affairs Minister, Natwar Singh, said that once India and Pakistan are able to set aside their suspicions through a continuous process of confidence-building, he was sure that they would be able to tackle some of the more complex issues that plagued the bilateral relations.

Addressing journalists here this evening before leaving for New Delhi, Mr. Singh said that confidence-building measures would help create an atmosphere conducive to addressing the more difficult issues and help fulfil the promise of friendship and bilateral cooperation between India and Pakistan.

The Chief Minister of the Punjab province, Pervaiz Elahi, hosted a lunch for Mr. Singh earlier this afternoon. Mr. Singh also met the Punjab Governor, Khalid Maqbool. Discussions centred on starting a new Lahore-Amritsar bus service, which the two sides agreed to on Wednesday in Islamabad.

India for constructive ties

"India sincerely seeks a cooperative and constructive relationship with Pakistan. For this, it is imperative for us to invest in the ongoing process of engagement and confidence building," he said.

Pointing to the change in the atmospherics in ties, Mr. Singh said India was committed to peace and friendship with Islamabad.

"These are not just words. We have worked actively to put them into practice. As you know, only yesterday we worked out with the Government of Pakistan mutually acceptable procedures for a bus service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad.

"We have also agreed to consider an energy corridor through Pakistan, subject to satisfaction of our concerns related to security and assured supplies."

All this progress was possible because of an overwhelming desire among the people for peaceful interaction. They needed to build further on this foundation, he said, adding that a conscious "people-centric" approach had to be adopted.

"We look forward to group tours [from Pakistan] very soon and are already implementing a special visa regime for Pakistani students to study in Indian educational institutions, particularly the IT [information technology] sector. I believe that this is a time for us to let the people set the pace for a while," he said.

"The Governments, who are appearing somewhat more cautious and conservative, could also play a facilitating role for the natural affinities of the people to define new parameters of our relationship."

Mr. Singh said that India-Pakistan trade, regrettably, had grown slowly while New Delhi's trade with other South Asian nations had grown substantially. "Unfortunately, Pakistan's position as the link between energy sources in Central and West Asia and the growing demand in South Asia has not been leveraged ... "

"We attach great importance to economic and commercial cooperation with Pakistan. We believe that this would help address the common challenges of poverty and imbalance in the development of the region ... "

Productive visit

Shortly after arriving in New Delhi, Mr. Singh said in a prepared statement at Palam Airport that his visit to Pakistan had been both productive and useful. The present peace process was more firmly anchored than those that had taken place in the past, he said.

According to him, there was a groundswell of goodwill driving the peace process forward. He reiterated that Pakistan must remain committed to the "solemn assurances" it had given on January 6, 2004, that terrorists would be denied the use of its territory.

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