Lahore, November 21
Foreign Minister of Pakistan Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri is almost certain that the proposed bus service between Muzaffarabad in Pakistan and Srinagar in India would soon become a reality. He hoped no minor considerations would stand in the way of this important confidence-building measure.
The Minister, who was addressing the South Asian Free Media Conference on Media and Reconciliation in South Asia here this afternoon, was also hopeful that the gas pipeline would not remain a mere proposal as the two countries had a great stake in it. Such measures would go a long way in moving from a no-war-no-peace situation to a situation of enduring peace.
He asked for an increased involvement of the Kashmiri people in the peace process because it had a great bearing on their future. He deprecated the tendency of political parties and leaders going back on their peace commitments once they left government.
Nobody could take the credit away from former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for initiating the ongoing peace process between Pakistan and India. So there was no reason for the BJP to feel uncomfortable if the successor government went ahead with it. Mr Kasuri made this remark in the context of a speaker commenting that Pakistani leaders like Ms Benazir Bhutto and Mr Nawaz Sharif spoke differently on peace with India when they lost power.
He said the Opposition too had a role to play in strengthening the peace process and mentioned in this context his invitation to the BJP chief and former Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani to visit Pakistan. This was true about the Opposition in Pakistan also which the government was trying to involve in the peace process.
Recalling that he himself was a part of Track II diplomacy, Mr Kasuri said President Musharraf was deeply committed to establishing peace with India. What he wanted was peace with honour. Neither country could enforce its will on the other. Pakistan did not want peace of the kind that was brought about when Germany capitulated and signed the treaty at Versailles in 1919, which paved the way for the Second World War
He described as wrong the description of General Musharraf's speech at the SAFMA conference on Saturday as an angry reaction to the messages coming out of
India. He spoke more in pain than in anger. Mr Kasuri paid rich compliments to the Indian media for its diversity, espousal of public causes and tolerance. However, when it came to Kashmir, the media erected “one blank, patriotic wall”. Whereas in Pakistan, the media often lambasted the government on foreign policy issues, the Indian media toed the government line when it came to cross-border matters.
While references were often made about Kargil, the media should not forget that a huge contingent of the Indian Army was deployed on the borders with Pakistan for as long as 10 months.
He said the presumption that if the Kashmiri voice was given a vent it would go against India’s interest was misplaced. For all one knew, the Kashmiris might end up speaking for India. In any case, the Kashmiris had a greater stake in peace than India and Pakistan.
Mr Kasuri said he would do everything possible to end whatever restrictions were there on journalists from India and other SAARC countries visiting Pakistan. However, he hastened to add that he was not in charge of the Interior Ministry, which imposed many conditions on Pakistani visa holders.
The three-day conference ended this evening with a declaration on media and reconciliation. It re-elected Mr Imtiaz Alam as Secretary-General for a three-year term.
