Jinnah Institute’s (JI) 3rd Islamabad Dialogue which concluded in Islamabad on Friday with the release of a draft resolution outlining recommendations for Indian and Pakistani governments to improve mutual relations for the betterment of the region.
The resolution, presented to the media by JI’s President Sherry Rehman, presented a range of proposals aimed at outlining a strategy to establish peace in the region. The salient features of the resolution included the call for showing commitment towards improving trade and tourism between both the South Asian neighbours, stressing both the countries to cooperate on Afghanistan and address human rights concerns in Kashmir. It also highlighted governance related concerns in both the countries that have had a bad impact on human rights, while also stressing on the need to address the issue of detained fishermen and prisoners held captive in both countries.
The second day of the conference witnessed two panel sessions taking place on the issues of “Kashmir” and “Fishermen and prisoners of war”. Participants from both countries engaged in productive debates and discussions in order to outline measures which could represent alternative approaches to the sort of issues that have left an impasse in Indo-Pak relations.
On the issue of Kashmir, various participants spoke on the need for the governments of both the countries to commit themselves to implementing CBMs on trade and travel related activities related to Kashmir. They called for local authorities to be empowered to provide travel permits, as well as expanding trade across the Line of Control (LoC). On the issue of fishermen arrested by security officials of both the countries, the lack of an identifiable maritime boundary was identified as a fundamental obstacle to resolving this important issue. The participants also strongly advocated that the two countries exhibited complete transparency on prisoners’ issue, and suggested a “no-arrest” policy be introduced for fishermen. The panel also roundly condemned the recent tit-for-tat murders of prisoners and called on the governments of both the countries to make efforts to prevent such incidents from being repeated in the future.
The dialogue was the result of collaboration between the JI and New Delhi’s Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation (CDR). The conference was being held for the third consecutive year, and continued in its aim to promote peace between Pakistan and India through Track-II diplomacy. The conference was designed to focus on promoting a robust and inclusive dialogue between civil societies the two neighbouring countries, and to ensure that dialogue and diplomacy in the region did not remain hostage to various incidents and disruptions, so that civil society could continue to play a role in ensuring peace in South Asia.
