Joint Commission reactivated

Pakistan and India have reactivated the defunct Joint Commission after more than seven years and identified avenues of mutually beneficial co-operation in eight fields. According to Foreign Office, the Pakistan-India Joint Commission met here on September 6, in pursuance of the decision taken by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan and Minister of External Affairs of India during their last meeting in New Delhi on July 27, 2011.
The reactivation of the Joint Commission was welcomed by both sides. The following eight Technical Level Working Groups (TLWG) discussed and identified avenues of mutually beneficial co-operation in the respective fields: (i) agriculture (ii) education (iii) environment (iv) health (v) information (vi) IT & telecom, (vii) science and technology and (viii) tourism.
Agriculture: The working group on agriculture discussed avenues of co-operation and identified certain areas for collaboration including exchange of experts and training of scientists in the areas of crop improvement through the use of biotechnology, co-operation in seed sector, quarantine related matters, livestock and dairy development sector, high efficiency irrigation system and rainwater harvesting.
Education: The working group on education explored avenues for furthering co-operation in the fields of school and higher education, non-formal education and adult literacy. It also explored furthering co-operation through institutional linkages between Higher Education Commission of Pakistan and University Grants Commission of India, linkages between National Vocational and Technical Training Commission of Pakistan and All India Council for Technical Education of India and exchange of experiences between National Book Foundation of Pakistan, National Book Trust and National Council of Educational Research and Training of India.
Environment: The working group on environment discussed various issues relating to environment and agreed to enhance co-operation in the fields of climate change, renewable energy, environmental protection, energy conservation and Clean Development Mechanism, Biodiversity and sustainable forest conservation and solid waste management. It agreed to share experiences and best practices including establishing institutional linkages for knowledge sharing and capacity building.
Health: The working group on health agreed to enhance co-operation in polio eradication and increasing immunisation coverage, co-operation in women and child health, sharing experience for retaining human resources in rural area exchange of information on regulatory regime and institutional collaboration between Drug Regulatory Agency of Pakistan and Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation of India. They also agreed to enhance co-operation in Quality Assurance and Drug Testing laboratories in pharmaceuticals and biological.
Information: The working group on information discussed issues concerning information and broadcasting. In this context, exchange of journalists and information professionals, organising film festivals in each other's countries, holding of seminars/workshops, between Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) and suitable Pakistani Institute; and between Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) and Academies of Pakistan Television Corporation and Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation; news exchange between official news agencies and exchange of TV and Radio programmes were identified for future collaboration. Both sides agreed that media can play a pivotal role in building and enabling environment between the two countries.
IT & Telecom: The working group on IT & Telecom discussed avenues of co-operation. Pakistan invited Indian companies to participate in ICT events in Pakistan. India offered to organise a customised e-governance workshop in India for Pakistan. They also discussed possibilities of collaboration in International Domain Name (IDN), sharing best practices on e-governance, Open Source Technologies and IT Enabled Services. The group emphasised improved visa facilitation for IT & Telecom professionals. India offered to forward a proposal for establishing telemedicine linkages between the two countries.
Science and Technology: The working group on science and technology discussed national science, technology innovation system in Pakistan and India. They agreed to work on common areas of interest by holding joint workshops/seminars and short training programmes. They identified areas of medicinal plants and herbal medicines (in Pakistan), renewable energy (in India) and standards for such collaboration. Both sides also agreed to participate in each other's science popularisation programs/activities.
Tourism: The working group on tourism held discussions on tourism industry and potential in both countries. They explored and identified areas for co-operation particularly in information sharing, research and development, human resource development in the field of tourism, destination management, marketing and promotion, Meetings Incentives Conference and Exhibition (MICE) tourism, travel and hospitality industry.