Punjab Chief Minister, Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif has said that India and Pakistan will have to develop peaceful neighbourly relations and promote bilateral relations, while efforts should continue for the solution of all outstanding issues including Kashmir as it is imperative for a durable and lasting peace in the subcontinent.
He said that both the countries would have made much progress if mutual issues had been resolved through dialogue and resources had been spent on the welfare and uplift of the masses instead of wasting these on wars. He asserted it is high time both the countries gave up confrontation and followed the peace process. He said that poverty, disease and ignorance are the common enemies of both the countries and collective efforts are needed to overcome these problems.
These views were expressed by him at a luncheon hosted in the honour of Speaker Indian Lok Sabha, Meira Kumar at Chief Minister's Secretariat, here Saturday. The CM said that war is not the solution to problems but these can be resolved through negotiations. He recalled that during the tenure of former Prime Minister, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, Indian Prime Minister, Atal Bahari Vajpai had come to Lahore and declared at Minar-e-Pakistan that India accepts Pakistan from its heart. Had the democratic process continued in Pakistan, many irritants in Indo-Pak relations would have been removed and solid progress had been made towards the resolution of Kashmir, water and many other issues.
He furthered that instead of indulging in arms race, people of India and Pakistan should compete in education, science, art and other fields and resolve their outstanding problems in a peaceful manner. He said that destiny of the region can be changed only if the two countries concentrate on the prosperity of their people. He said that realities should be accepted no matter how bitter they were. He said that the two countries have fought three wars and millions of lives have been lost but the basic issues are still intact.
The CM stressed the need for replacing the existing oppressive system of social and economic inequalities with a system based on justice and fair play and said that economic and social exploitation will have to be done away with for changing the existing state of affairs.
He said that revolutionary project of Daanish School System has been introduced for the children deprived of even basic education, which will bring about a positive change in their lives. He said that it is his firm belief that social progress is not possible without removing disparity between the rich and the poor, therefore, Punjab government is attaching special importance to education and other public welfare projects. He informed the delegation that Pakistan is the first country in the subcontinent which, under the leadership of Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, adopted liberal economic policies and his vision was followed by then Indian finance minister, Manmohan Singh.
He said that Pakistan is facing terrorism and cannot make progress without elimination of this menace. If European countries can live in peace and harmony after protracted wars and disputes, why India and Pakistan cannot move forward in a peaceful manner, he questioned. However, he said, it is essential that they should find a just solution to all their issues, he maintained.
Speaker Indian Lok Sabha Meira Kumar appreciated the public welfare projects initiated by the CM. Besides members of Indian delegation, Indian High Commissioner in Pakistan Sharat Sabharwal, Senior Advisor, Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa, provincial minister, Chaudhry Abdul Ghafoor, members of the provincial assembly, senior columnist and intellectual Ata-ul-Haq Qasmi were also present on the occasion.
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