Chairman Centre for Peace and Progress, India, O. P. Shah stressed upon bilateral negotiations between Pakistan and India and exchange of delegations between the two sides to bring peace in the region. He was addressing as a chief guest at a roundtable discussion organised by Pakistan Forum on the topic of 'Pakistan - India relations and the way forward' at a local hotel on Friday.
Pakistan Forum is the brainchild of former foreign minister of Pakistan Mian Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri where issues of national importance are discussed on regular basis. Members of Pakistan Forum included leading intellectuals, media and political figures. Shah said that dialogue becomes more important in a violent situation. He invited members of Pakistan Forum to visit India and promote peace and prosperity between the two sides.
Shah has been organizing events on Pakistan and India in the context of track-II diplomacy for almost three decades. He has taken keen interest in the affairs of Jammu and Kashmir and visited it around 100 times in the past 25 years. He has spent considerable time with people in distress and visited jails, interrogation centres and refugee camps. On issue of Babri Mosque and Ayodhya, the first meeting between the leaders of Babri Masjid Action Committee and Vishwa Hindu Parishad was organised by him in 1989, followed by several meetings between the two sides.
In his address, Khurshid Kasuri welcomed the thoughts of O P Shah and expressed the hope that exchange of ideas on common platforms would help promote peace and tranquility between the two rivals of South Asia. Retired army generals, diplomats and leading journalists also spoke on the occasion.
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