South Asia cannot progress in any sphere of life unless the core issues between Pakistan and India are addressed promptly through a series of result-oriented parlays. India and Pakistan must resolve outstanding economic and security disputes including Kashmir issue to fully exploit economic potential of eight-member South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) for better future and durable peace in the region, SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vice President Iftikhar Ali Malik stated this in meeting with a delegation of Pakistan Furniture Council (PFC) headed by its Chief Executive Mian Kashif Ashfaq here Tuesday.
He said SAARC had the potential to become one of the major global centres of economic power. "For this to happen, South Asia needs peace, stability and mutual cooperation," he added. Showing his sheer despondency over recent cancellation of SAARC conference after refusal of India to participate, Malik said, "War is no solution to disputes and both the countries should resolve issues through dialogue." He said India escalated tension to conceal its brutality in occupied Kashmir and blamed Pakistan of Uri attack without any investigation, adding that both the states should resolve issues through diplomatic channels.
Malik said Pakistan had offered dialogue to India for the resolution of the Kashmir issue but the offer was rejected, asserting that Pakistan had always been remained committed to peace and regional cooperation. He said they would continue to work in the larger interest of the people of this region. However, he reiterated that to achieve durable peace in South Asia, settlement of the Kashmir dispute was inevitable.
PFC Chief and life member SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mian Kashif Ashfaq said it was wrong perception deliberately propagated by Indian establishment that Pakistan was a serious threat to stability of the region but the fact was that India was perceived as security threat by other regional countries and with the result there were more conflicts and less cooperation which had made South Asia a volatile region. He urged the Indian government to play its positive role to strengthen any regional initiative for the better future of South Asia.
He said there were unsettled issues between India and Bangladesh, India and Nepal, India and China and India and Pakistan so every country should focus on resolving their issues for durable peace in the region. There was unresolved problem in Kashmir between India and Pakistan which resulted in numerous wars. The unresolved conflicts between South Asian countries had far more regional implications, which had taken away peace and harmony in the region. He said all the regional countries should develop consensus and then provide a platform for addressing security issues on serious and exigent basis, he added.
Mian Kashif said, India's role was much more important in the region because every country was cautious of its vicious design of hegemony in the region. "Due to this fear, most states want to avoid trade with India in order to control Indian hegemony. The regional organisation of SAARC too is ineffective because it has failed to address security problems of member states," he opined. He said that India was responsible for regional instability because it had tended to prefer bilateral engagements within the region and avoided multilateral ones to suit its ambitious policies and downplays regional cooperation by such policies of building bilateral alliances.