President
Mamnoon Hussain has said that United States' efforts to prop up India as a
major power of the region can seriously jeopardize the peace in this region. He
emphasized that Kashmir issue is the major obstacle in the restoration of peace
in the region and without its resolution peace in the region would remain a
dream adding that it is important for regional peace that all outstanding
issues must be resolved through dialogue. The President
said this while addressing the conference on Peace in South Asia organized
by Pakistan Institute of International Affairs (PIIA) in Karachi on Wednesday. Chairperson PIIA Dr. Masooma Hassan also spoke
on the occasion. The President stated that currently South
Asia is facing many conflicts & crises and peace in the region is at stake
because of various unresolved political and geographical issues. These
challenges have been made more complex by global situation particularly the
Cold War, deteriorating situation in Afghanistan and the menace of terrorism,
he added. The President underlined that these decades’ old factors have
profoundly impacted the region’s political, socio-economic and security
environment adding that strategic environment in South Asia underwent a
paradigm shift when India and Pakistan became nuclear powers, since then, the
regional situation is being adversely affected due to factors operating at
three levels i.e. domestic, regional and global and it is imperative to
objectively evaluate it.
The President underscored that
unresolved conflicts of Jammu & Kashmir, Sir Creek and Siachen are the
major hurdles in achieving stability in South Asia. He further said that after
the tragedy of 9/11, turmoil in Afghanistan has further made these matters
worse which has given rise to multifaceted security issues in the region. He
stated that the deteriorating situation in Kashmir has also adversely affected
the regional peace. He pointed out that Kashmiris are engaged in a legitimate
struggle to exercise their right of self-determination while India is unjustly
trying to designate this movement of Kashmiri people as terrorism which has
further aggravated tension in the South Asia. He highlighted that India’s
ongoing arms build-up poses a serious threat to the regional stability which
could lead to undesirable arms race between the two neighbors at the cost of
their economic and social progress which can impact the region negatively.
The
President said that whole region of South Asia is in search for peace and
prosperity but the blessings of peace and development have become elusive due
to conflicts whereas this situation can be aptly tackled through regional
cooperation and settling longstanding disputes. He further stated that destiny
of South Asian nations is linked with each other and only through mutual
cooperation they can fight poverty, unemployment, climate change, militancy and
other public issues. But the journey to find peace and prosperity can go in
vain in case of conflicts which is the major cause for abject poverty, social
backwardness, extremism and radicalization. He added that it is imperative to
sincerely promote mutual cooperation to alleviate poverty in order to bring
improvement in social conditions.
The President highlighted that
China’s growing interest and investment in the region is very beneficial for South
Asia adding that for this great purpose, we should create conducive environment
for peace and mutual cooperation by taking advantage of important initiatives
of regional connectivity like “One Belt, One Road”, China-Pakistan Economic
Corridor (CPEC) and facility of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
He said that it will attract Foreign
Direct Investment (FDI) in the region which is presently very low when compared
to the other regions. He stated that along-with promoting economic cooperation
and regional connectivity, there is also a need to focus more on stabilizing
Afghanistan because only a stable Afghanistan can become a great transit
corridor connecting Central, South and West Asia. He emphasized that
international community should play its role to attain peace and stability in
Afghanistan. He underlined that these two objectives can be achieved
successfully by making the platform of SAARC effective for which it is
necessary to strengthen regional connectivity and people-to-people contacts. He
stated that there is a need to avoid fanning regional differences and visa
policy needs to be liberalized for business purposes. He pointed out that these
measures will ensure faster economic growth in the region which will lead to
elimination of poverty and provision of employment opportunities through
economic cooperation, activation of regional contacts and infrastructure
development. He added that mutual cooperation in the field of energy will be
helpful in further cementing these ties.
The President stressed that South
Asian countries need to evolve unity on the pattern of Shanghai Cooperation
Organization (SCO) and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to ensure
durable progress in the region. He stated that it is also important to
resolve mutual differences and conflicts through dialogue and political process
rather than through instruments of coercion and force. He further said that for
these purposes, in addition to SAARC, the platform of SCO is also available for
achieving regional integration.
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