S. Asian media hail Indo-Pakistani talks
S. Asian media hail Indo-Pakistani talks
MALE, Maldives (Reuter): South Asian newspapers praised India and Pakistan yesterday for taking a step toward normalizing strained relations, saying the whole region would benefit.
The papers highlighted progress at talks between Indian Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral and his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, held on the margins of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in the Maldives capital, Male.
The three-day summit ended Wednesday with a pledge by the leaders of the seven member states to speed up the creation of a free trade zone and initiate political discussions in the bloc.
The newspapers' focus on India and Pakistan was a reminder of the impact their uneasy relations have had on economic cooperation between Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Intra-regional trade represents only three percent of the countries' total global commerce, and official trade between the two largest countries, Pakistan and India is under US$500 million a year, according to diplomats.
"That the prime ministers of two large neighboring countries with a baggage of hostilities are optimistically looking forward to closing the gap between them should definitely be seen as the first sign of thawing the ice," Bangladesh's Daily Star said.
The Times of India said: "Male showed that despite strong and conflicting domestic pressures, and gentle international ones, it is possible to talk, and talk positively ... The outcome was better than what was generally expected."
The Karachi-based Business Recorder said it was not the first time Indian and Pakistani leaders had tried to reduce tensions.
"But it is, perhaps, the first time that it has been attempted in as cordial an atmosphere as that prevailing at present and with as much commitment as is evident in Male."
It said cutting defense spending was not a realistic option at present, but if tension could be reduced, it would "no doubt release considerable resources for development purposes".
The Sri Lanka press blamed the Western media for considering the India-Pakistan "side show" to be more important than the summit itself.
"It is good news if India and Pakistan have got down to fence- mending in earnest. Still, the importance of the SAARC process couldn't be reduced to the mere monitoring of the vicissitudes of a bilateral relationship, however significant it may be," the state-owned Daily News said in an editorial.