In a press statement, South Asia’s largest and oldest people-to-people forum, has welcomed the India and Pakistan governments’ decision to resume a ‘comprehensive bilateral dialogue’, following meetings between India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Advisor to the Pakistan’s PM on Foreign Affairs Sartaz Aziz in Islamabad on Wednesday.
The Pakistan-India Peoples’ Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) has been consistently demanding resumption of dialogue between two countries as people of both the countries want to live in peace with each other. The dialogue will include peace and security, CBMs, Jammu & Kashmir, Siachen, Sir Creek, Wullar Barrage/Tulbul Navigation Project, Economic and Commercial Cooperation, Counter-terrorism, Narcotics Control, Humanitarian Issues, People to people exchanges and religious tourism. The dialogue needs to be uninterrupted and uninterruptible, stresses PIPFPD, echoing the phrase made popular by Indian politician Mani Shankar Aiyer.
PIPFPD appeals to both governments to release all the fishermen held in each other’s custody along with their boats in keeping with the spirit of Ufa joint statement.
The India-Pakistan Judicial Committee on Prisoners also needs to revive as they have not visited each other country’s prisons for over two years, reminds PIPFPD.
“We hope that Foreign Secretaries of both the countries will meet soon and work out the modalities and schedule for the meetings under restarted comprehensive bilateral dialogue,” concludes the statement, signed by PIPFPD General Secretary Jatin Desai and co-chairpersons Asha Hans and Anuradha Bhasin.
