Honest dialogue pivotal for peace: Nirupama Rao
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, October 30
Former diplomats of India and Pakistan participated in the final session ‘Crossing Borders: A Conversation’ of the month long ‘Sanjha Punjab’ festival at Majha House. They were in conversation with Sunjoy Hazarika, Director, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative.
In order to achieve something, we must initiate conversation backed by reason and imagination. We must talk. Students must question politicians, literate must talk to illiterate, scientists must talk to artists. It is important to have reason and logic ingrained in all our conversations which should be honest and well-intentioned. — Nirupama Rao, former Indian Foreign Secretary
Abdul Basit, former High Commissioner of Pakistan to India, and Nirupama Rao, a former Indian Foreign Secretary, have penned books about hostility across borders and the hope for peace.
Hazarika began the discussion with climate change to which Basit replied that Pakistan has planted nearly a billion trees in the recent years. He said India and Pakistan have not had much engagement on this issue. “This is a very serious issue and all the developing nations must come together to work towards a solution,” he said.
Even before a discussion gets over, everyone knows what has taken place. In order to march towards peace, we must first rise up from the morass of common issues that plague us. Earlier, diplomacy was a dignified private exercise, but now it’s a public debate with just about everyone in the world. Going all out in the public domain is not very beneficial for bilateral relations. Open and honest conversation is what we really need. Abdul Basit, former High Commissioner of Pakistan to India
Rao said, “We must initiate dialogue and for that we need to rephrase and rebuilt our traditional notions of security. We need to work out solutions that are healthy for both countries.” Talking about politics and harmony, Basit said release of fishermen, who enter into each other’s territorial waters, acts as a gesture towards peace. “Nothing between India and Pakistan is apolitical, but we must put politics aside and focus on the humanitarian issue. Over the years, Pakistan has released thousands of fishermen,” he said.
Rao said lives of such fishermen were same across borders. “Whether the fishermen come from Sindh or Gujarat, lives of these fishermen are shattered once they are arrested. We must work towards a solution where such fishermen are simply pushed back into their own waters instead of arresting them and putting them in prison,” she said.
Rao asserted the significance of initiating conversation between the two countries. “In order to achieve something, we must initiate conversation backed by reason and imagination. We must talk. Students must question politicians, literate must talk to illiterate, scientists must talk to artists. It is important to have reason and logic ingrained in all our conversations which should be honest and well-intentioned,” she said.
Basit said, “Even before a discussion gets over, everyone knows what has taken place. In order to march towards peace, we must first rise up from the morass of common issues that plague us. Earlier, diplomacy was a dignified private exercise, but now it’s a public debate with just about everyone in the world. Going all out in the public domain is not very beneficial for bilateral relations. Open and honest conversation is what we really need,” he said.
