A former ambassador, BA Malik, on Tuesday called for reviewing the country's India-centric policy after the Abbottabad incident of May 2 as this could help bring in permanent peace in the region. "Following the events of recent days, it is felt that time has come to review our India-centric foreign policy. We should admit that our policy vis-a-vis our neighbour is based on fear and hatred, and has proved to be a disaster," he said in a letter to the Editor in an English daily.
BA Malik, who is an experienced diplomat, said it was time to change the cold war mindset. "This could help bring permanent peace with India and be helpful to the region as a whole," he added. He said that after Abbottabad operation Pakistan and South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (Saarc) had been "indispensable" for each other. "In other words, both cannot survive without each other". "Saarc countries together can take a common position in international relations on the pattern of the European Union," he said, adding that Pakistanis needed to "be realists but not dreamers".