ISLAMABAD: Foreign policy experts at a “public hearing”, organised by the National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, called for reviving and promoting people-to-people contacts and trade relations with India despite the “inherent tensions” in bilateral relations.
The committee held its first “public hearing” on the “Present and Future of Pakistan-India Relations”, chaired by MNA Mohsin Dawar, and also asserted that Parliament has to reclaim its space on foreign policy ceded to non-elected officials.
The keynote speakers included former Senator Afrasiab Khattak, former ambassador Ashraf Jahangir Qazi, journalists, Zahid Hussain and Munizae Jahangir, Professor at Quaid-e-Azam University Salma Malik, lawyer Jamal Aziz and Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad (ISSI) Director Mohammad Arshad.
Members of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, civil society and students participated in the “public hearing”, held at the Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services.
In his remarks, chairman of the committee Dawar said that all matters of domestic and foreign policy should not be seen only through the prism of security, and stressed meaningful internal dialogue on future engagements with India.
“Being the first in a series of potential public hearings of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, the session would serve as prelude to sustained engagements with the civil society, academia, think tanks, media and other relevant stakeholders on matters of foreign policy,” said a statement issued to the media after the public hearing.
It stated that the “public hearing” examined the evolving regional geopolitical dimensions, political, economic and legal underpinnings in Pak-India relations, track II diplomacy and confidence-building measures as low-hanging fruits in bilateral relations.
The experts and participants underlined the need for reviving and promoting people-to-people contacts and trade relations despite the inherent tensions in bilateral relations. “The experts cited that despite tensions China and India’s trade continue to expand while Pakistan-India trade has completely halted,” it added.
“One of the experts, reflecting on Pakistan’s internal political instability and state’s declining capacity, stated that India has no incentive to engage with a failing state. Given India’s sustained rapid economic growth and emergence as economic superpower, the country feels it is on a different league,” according to the statement.
It added that the panelists also regretted that Kashmir has been deprioritised in Pakistan’s policy priorities.
The participants highlighted that both Pakistan and India put stringent preconditions for any dialogue including Pakistan’s demand to reverse India’s unilateral decision to reverse the status of Indian Occupied Kashmir and India’s insistence on prevention of cross-border terrorism. “The panelists highlighted that the Parliament should be the nucleus of the decisions pertaining to Pakistan’s relations with India and other neighbours,” it added.
Professor Salma Malik pointed out that the region is going from geostrategic to geo-economics, but unfortunately, Pakistan is still stuck badly in the geostrategic.
Talking about Kashmir, she said the issue as being viewed as a “nuclear flash point” internationally and not as a humanitarian one. She also gave an overview of the importance of strong economic cooperation and connectivity among South Asian countries.
Zahid Hussain, in his remarks, recalled his meeting with former army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa (retired) two years back, saying that the general was in favour of normalisation of ties with India. He also maintained that Bajwa even had told him that Prime Minister Modi had decided to visit Pakistan but the then government disagreed with the plans.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023