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India-Pakistan
Indian PM Seeks Cooperation With Pakistan
2003-08-10
India’s prime minister called for an end to bloodshed between Pakistan and India in a statement read Sunday before a peace conference in the Pakistani capital, saying the two nations must heed the will of their peoples and learn to live side by side. ``Violence and bloodshed cannot provide any solutions. We can live together only if we let each other live,’’ Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said in the statement, read aloud by an Indian delegate at the conference. ``Cooperation, rather than confrontation, is the answer to our common problems.’’
In unrelated news this morning, Qazi had a seizure and choked on his spittle.
The conference, organized by a prominent journalists’ group with branches in both countries, is the latest effort to ease tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors. It brings together Indian and Pakistani parliamentarians for two days of talks at Islamabad’s Marriott hotel.
Oh look! A Marriott hotel in an Islamic country that’s still standing!
The 59-member Indian delegation — 33 lawmakers and 26 journalists — crossed the Indian-Pakistani border on Saturday afternoon, receiving a warm welcome from Pakistani political parties and human rights workers, who shouted slogans of peace and showered them with rose petals. On Sunday, Pakistani and Indian parliamentarians sat facing each other in a brightly lit ballroom at the hotel, each taking turns speaking about their nations’ future. As some gave long-winded, boring speeches that no one listened to, others exchanged pleasantries over cups of tea. Some Sikhs on the Indian side had flowing beards, while leaders of a Pakistani religious alliance wore Islamic turbans over their eyes. ``We have come here with a message of love and brotherhood,’’ Indian lawmaker Laloo Prasad Yadav said in a speech. ``Everyone should play their role in tearing down the wall of hatred.’’
"We, for example, are willing to tear down all the Pakistani walls of hatred."
After the opening session, the meetings were closed to reporters. During the conference, the delegates will encourage both governments to resume stalled peace talks. They will also discuss Kashmir.
They should be able to fix the Kashmir thing in about, oh, an hour or two.
Vajpayee said in the statement, written from the Indian capital of New Delhi, that the conference provided hope for the future. ``The meeting and the themes for discussion are a forceful reiteration of the popular desire in both of our countries for a normal, peaceful, friendly and cooperative relationship with us on top,’’ he said. ``We cannot deny our people their right to peaceful and cooperative economic development right after we replace all those crummy MiGs.’’ M. Ziauddin, the Pakistani president of the South Asia Free Media Association, which organized the conference, said he hoped it would serve to bring better understanding. ``These are exciting times for Pakistan and India. There is a peace process going on and I hope this conference provides participants the right kind of atmosphere to air their ideas and thoughts without inhibitions or being knifed to death,’’ he said.
"But it's probably just another exchange of wind. Guess we gotta try, though..."
Relations have improved in recent months, since a call by Vajpayee for renewed peace talks. India and Pakistan have restored diplomatic ties and resumed bus links. The two countries are also discussing re-establishing air and train links.
That’ll help the crucial hijacking industry which has been in a real slump over there.
Still, progress has been slow and no dates for formal peace talks to begin has been announced. Politicians on both sides have continued to make faces fire off weapons inflammatory statements from time to time. The issue of Kashmir remains a thorny one, and is not likely to be solved anytime soon. More than 63,000 people have died in Kashmir since 1989. Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, the head of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q party, said that any peace talks must include the issue of Kashmir, and noted that progress on other fronts would lack substance if the flashpoint issue is not addressed.
Thus putting the kabosh on progress anywhere. Same old, same old.
Posted by:Steve White

#4  Besides--the Hilton twins would make a much better target
Posted by: Not Mike Moore   2003-8-10 11:24:47 PM  

#3  OP, my apologies.
Posted by: Steve White   2003-8-10 11:05:25 PM  

#2  Please stop making the Marriott jokes! Both my wife and my daughter work at one here in Colorado, and it wouldn't be much of a stretch for some Islamofascist to decide they'd make good targets. That's especially true with somebody making comments about one every other day. Can you say "brainwashing"? Remember who we're dealing with here - People with Very Little Brain - less than Winnie the Pooh.
Posted by: Old Patriot   2003-8-10 7:29:25 PM  

#1  Do Hindus/other ethnic Indians ever take the Bus to Pakistan. Do they flock there or just trikle in and out?
Posted by: Lucky   2003-8-10 2:45:35 PM  

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