India, Pak `agencies' obstacles to people-friendly CBM's: Pak editorial
30 Aug 2008, 1310 Hrs

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Islamabad, Aug.30 (ANI): An editorial in a prominent Pakistani daily has said that intelligence agencies in both Pakistan and India are acting as obstacles to people-friendly confidence-building measures initiated since 2004 by the two governments.

According to the editorial in the Daily Times, these so called "agencies" are not yet ready to allow easy travel for the purpose of holding dialogues.

It insists that political leaders in both countries need to overrule these agencies, and urges New Delhi to "present their open-policy draft as soon as possible"

The Pakistani Foreign Office too must take its cue from the countries political leadership, instead of from the agencies, it adds.

It says that there is a need to pry open the Indo-Pak lock, as "unless some relaxation of tension is managed, the two countries can easily aggravate the war that their intelligence agencies are already waging."

"People-to-people contacts are a safety valve and a globally acknowledged CBM for peace, provided the warring states want it," it adds.

The Secretaries-General of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and the Pak-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy, I A Rehman and Anis Haroon, have jointly urged the Governments of Pakistan and India to ease their reciprocal visa restrictions to enable people from both sides to meet in the cause of peace.

Unfortunately, the appeal has been met with a deafening silence in Islamabad as India and Pakistan are once again fighting their covert war of bomb-explosions, proxy insurgencies and serious verbal psy-violence. Therefore the official dialogue is on hold.

Dialogue between the two countries, the editorial claims is at a standstill because the "agencies" on both sides have prevailed and proxy hostilities have prevented a bilateral discussion of it. (ANI)