Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Former foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar on Saturday said that Pakistan, India and Afghanistan should follow UK and France who despite fighting against each other in the Second World War have normalised mutual relations.

Speaking at the three-day literature festival here at Lok Virsa, she said, “Whoever made the policy that without Kashmir, Pakistan will not move forward on relations with India, was wrong. We have to move forward on trade and other bilateral issues side by side.”

She said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to India on oath-taking ceremony of Modi and then Modi’s short trip to Lahore were positive initiatives by both the countries. She said Pakistani JIT’s visit to India after the Pathankot attack was also a good step. “As foreign minister, I was told by the Indian leadership that public opinion in their country was not in favour of talks with Pakistan. I told them that leadership can mould public opinion in favour of talks,” she said. She stressed on the need for long-term economic projects with neighbouring countries and at the regional level.

While responding to a question, Khar said, “I am fully convinced that we cannot take Kashmir through war. We have to talk with each other on all issues. PPP government executed Pak-Afghan transit trade agreement. Our cabinet also approved the Most-Favoured Nation (MFN) status for India,” she added.

On military’s involvement in the foreign policy, she said that government should do whatever it wants to do and must not worry about what army wants. She said civilian government and political parties are passing through a transitional period and will become mature with the passage of time. “Opportunities have embraced us … we have to benefit from these opportunities,” she said.

Khar said that bolstering trade ties with India will lead to the normalisation of relations. She said connectivity with China was a big opportunity for both countries and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was a step in the right direction.

Afghan Ambassador Omar Zakhilwal said that South Asian region is host of 40 percent world’s poor people. He said that South Asia is short of energy while our neighbours in Central Asia have abundance of energy resources. He said that Afghanistan can serve as a bridge between both the regions.

The envoy said our region has only five percent trade in comparison with 70 percent regional trade among EU countries. “We have SAARC and other forums but we need to work seriously on this front,” he said.

Zakhilwal said if peace returns to our region, which has to be, regional connectivity will automatically get a boost. He also suggested that we must separate politics from economic policies.

Anatol Lieven, a prominent writer on the region, said that economy cannot be separated from politics and security as these are inter-connected. He said major projects between South Asian and Central Asian region depend upon peace in Afghanistan. He said through CPEC, Pakistan has tremendous opportunity to boost its economic a