AAJ News
Published Date: Nov 22, 2013
Indo-Pak relations moving forward in a positive way: Indian envoy
Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan TCA Raghavan said Friday his
country was striving to establish mutually beneficial relations with
all developed as well as developing countries as the shared destiny of
South Asian nations require measures for regional integration.
Speaking at a lecture on `Trends in India-Pakistan Relations’ at the
Sustainable Development Policy Institute, Pakistan (SDPI), Raghavan
said that there was a need for a process-based approach to take the
agenda of India-Pakistan relations forward in a positive way.
Raghavan said positive developments have occurred at a higher
frequency over the last few years with regards to India-Pakistan
dialogue and engagement.
However,one should also qualify that despite certain setbacks
state-level engagement has continued throughout the shared history of
the two countries in the post-partition period leading to a number of
agreements and treaties.
The modern age marked by globalization has led to avenues that can help in improving India-Pakistan relations.
The agenda for easier mobility of people, capital and trade can go a
long way in preventing conflicts between India and Pakistan. Raghavan
said that it is also important to dispel the notion that positive
developments occurred historically have not been significant in
improving the relations between India and Pakistan.
The Ambassador appreciated the positive changes in Pakistan over the
last decade, such as growth of media and strengthening of institutions that
can help in fostering democratic norms in Pakistan.
New trends have started to emerge in the global arena.These new
trends,which include the rise of interaction through popular social
media, cyber threats from an increasingly connected web-world and rising
global demand for energy and play an important role in foreign policy
making the world over today.
Raghavan acknowledged the need for increased people to people
interaction between India and Pakistan.Even though the visa regime
remains cumbersome,it has become far more relaxed over the last few
years.