Pak., India must nurture trust: Fernandes

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, MAY 20. The Defence Minister, Mr. George Fernandes, today said India and Pakistan should commit themselves to resolving disputes through dialogue based on mutual trust. The two countries can work together for economic development and garner their natural resources for human development, he said.

Delivering the keynote address at the South Asia Conference on `Legacy of Mahbub-ul-Haq: Human Development' organised by the Institute of Social Sciences here, Mr. Fernandes said the two nations could change the face of the South Asia region.

Speaking at length about the problems faced by India, including terrorism and internal unrest, Mr. Fernandes said it appeared there is a vested interest in preserving poverty on the part of the ruling party as well as the Opposition. ``Or, how else can we describe the failures of the commitments made after and before Independence? Even at the end of the Fifth Five Year Plan, unemployment is showing an increase. An enormous amount of Rs. 10,000 crores spent for poverty alleviation programmes too proved futile.''

Describing unemployment as a national concern and the ``mother'' of all problems, Mr. Fernandes said the trouble in Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast could be attributed to unemployment. Lack of opportunities and insensitivity towards the needs of the disprivileged at all levels will never create conditions for human development, he said.

Globalisation, Mr. Fernandes said, was supposed to be the problem-solver for all. But all it had done was to widen the gap between the rich and the poor within the nations and also among the nations.

Inaugurating the conference, former Prime Minister, Mr. I.K. Gujral, said there was an urgent need for us to go behind the statistical data that hides many truths. Instead, we must see if economic prosperity at the macro level has made any real difference to the lives of ordinary people.

Arguing that our biggest strength was our population, Mr. Gujral said the world perceived us as one of the fastest growing markets and this could be used to our advantage while negotiating at WTO and other international fora.

Calling upon the people of South Asia to think collectively, Mr. Gujral said, ``We are assembled at a crucial juncture, when at one level, the countries in the region are characterised by acute asymmetries in development, and at another level, we have made major strides in science and technology.'' Earlier, welcoming the guests, Dr. George Mathew, director, ISS, said much could be achieved on the basis of mutual understanding, new technologies and indigenous knowledge.

Ms. Khadija Haq, chairperson of the Mahbub-ul-Haq Development Centre, Islamabad, said it was easier writing and formulating policies but very difficult to take these to the grassroots level. She said Haq believed that policies failed to deliver because of lack of implementation.

Mr. Nihal Rodrigo, Secretary-General of SAARC, was present on the occasion.

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