The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : `India, Pakistan must set milestones during talks'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 27, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

`India, Pakistan must set milestones during talks'

Special Correspondent

"Ongoing interaction between the media of both countries is Track III dialogue" Interaction between media of both countries is Track III dialogue

CONSOLIDATING TIES: Vijay Darda, Rajya Sabha member and CMD, Lokmat Group of Newspapers, shows the book written by Javed Jabbar, co-convener, SAEF, and former Federal Minister of Information, Petroleum & Natural Resources, Pakistan, at the 6th Confer ence of South Asian Editors Forum in Hyderabad on Thursday.

HYDERABAD: The media in India and Pakistan must be prepared to address the practical problems between the two countries by going beyond describing them as core or substantive issues, Javed Jabbar, co-convenor of the South Asian Editors Forum (SAEF), said here on Thursday.

At a press conference on the eve of a two-day workshop of SAEF, he described the ongoing interaction between the media of both countries as "Track III dialogue" as distinct from Track II diplomacy, a non-government initiative. In this case, it was more of a people-to-people dialogue through the media.

Mr. Jabbar, a former Federal Minister of Information, said he was "not fully satisfied" with the pace of the peace process on substantive issues, especially Kashmir. The two countries must set milestones during the dialogue and strive to reach them.

The workshop, he said, was taking place at "a remarkable moment" in the history of relations between the two nations. An Indian defence team was already in Pakistan to discuss (pull-out of troops from) the Siachen glacier, the world's highest battlefield, while in another two days Pakistan would play host to Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani. These developments were preceded by the resumption of bus service. Mr. Jabbar recalled the 50s and the 60s when a similar environment prevailed. "You can go into the future and begin anew only if you go back into history."

Describing the European Union as the best example of cooperation, he said that India-Pakistan relations were a far more complex process which needed patience and maturity. He said the founders of SAEF felt that the focus of interaction should be on indigenous media which had a wider reach instead of merely the English language press.

Founder-chairman of SAEF Vijay Darda, MP, said that newspapers representing more than 20 languages in South Asia were part of the process of peace-building in the region. He said the workshop, the sixth in the series organised by the Forum, would be inaugurated by Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting S. Jaipal Reddy on Friday. Mahmood Sham, Editor, Jang, Qazi Asad Abid, secretary-general, All-Pakistan Newspapers Society and Kumar Ketkar, Chief Editor, Loksatta, addressed the media.

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