Editorial

Date:30-09-05

Source: The News

The agreement between India and Pakistan on Wednesday to start the Lahore-Amritsar bus service on a regular basis in the first half of November is yet another positive development with regard to the present peace drive between the two neighbours. It is also heartening to learn that both sides agreed to hold another round of technical-level talks within one month to finalise the arrangements for starting Nankana Sahib-Amritsar bus service at the earliest.

This landmark decision will definitely be welcomed by the common citizens of both Pakistan and India who have long been yearning for more and more people-to-people contact, enabling the two states to get over their political differences which have been denying ordinary citizens on both sides the chance to interact with each other amicably and live like civilised neighbours as is the case with other countries that share common borders and in this case also a lot of socio-political values and culture. It is really tragic that for two countries whose similarities far outweigh and outnumber the differences between them, there is such a wide gulf of antagonism.

The people of Pakistan and India have known for a long time that the divisive politics of hatred and aggression have no lasting space in South Asia. Now it seems that the political forces on both sides have also realised that they cannot go on feeding this hate syndrome without both the countries having to pay a heavy price for it by way of a retarded socio-economic setup with most of the funds being pumped into maintaining the balance of terror. While welcoming this move to commence a bus service between Lahore and Amritsar, the governments of both the countries are urged for more dedication towards forging better and more warm relations while adhering only to politics of fairplay, friendship and cooperation for the eradication of their common enemy -- poverty and hunger, hatred and division.