ISLAMABAD – Parliamentarians from India and Pakistan on Thursday unanimously agreed that the trust deficit between the two countries should be removed and dialogue should be resumed with a view to promote a people’s movement for peace and prosperity of the region.
The parliamentarians from both countries said this while participating in a discussion, The Parliamentarians Dialogue, organised by PILDAT. The discussion was an attempt to reduce the trust deficit between the two neighbours and promote peace and prosperity through backdoor diplomacy.
Senator SM Zafar from Pakistan and Yashwat Sinha, former Indian minister for external affairs, co-chaired the dialogue, while Senate Deputy Chairman Jan Muhammad Jamali and NA Deputy Speaker Faisal Kundi formally opened the dialogue. Indian parliamentarians who participated in the dialogue included Mani Shankar Aiyar, Vijay Darda, Naznin Faruque, Shatrughan Sinha, Assaduddin Owaisi and Pradeep Majhi.
Pakistani lawmakers included Senators Nayyar Bukhari, Waseem Sajjad, Jehangir Badar, Salim Saifullah, Ilyas Bilour, Dr Donya Aziz, Khurram Dastagir, Lt Gen (r) Abdul Qadir, Balighur Rehman, Waqas Akram, Sughra Imam, Fozia Ejaz and Zahid Khan.