Peace Conference of Indian & Pakistani Parliamentarians in Islamabad by Zaffar Abbas BBC News 11:26am 11th Aug, 2003   10 August, 2003    A conference of nearly 100 parliamentarians from India and Pakistan and a number of writers has started in Islamabad amid calls for all avenues for peace between the two adversaries to be explored. Those attending the conference also include MPs from the right-wing religious parties from both countries who in the past had been the main opponents of peace talks.    The two-day meeting has been organised by a regional grouping of journalists called South Asia Free Media Association (ASFMA), but it is being backed by both the Indian and Pakistan governments. The Indian Prime Minister has also sent a message saying the two nations must learn to live side by side.    It is by far the biggest gathering of elected representatives of India and Pakistan since the two countries came to the brink of all-out war exactly one year ago. From the very start of the meeting, there were indications that the MPs from the two sides have gathered with the desire to explore peace options.    They stood in respect while the national anthems of Pakistan and India were played in the conference hall, indeed a rare sight in countries where politicians have spent more time in promoting hostilities and hatred against each other.    The speaker of Pakistan's national assembly, Amir Hussein, inaugurated the conference and urged the participants to use the opportunity for strengthening the peace efforts. Other speeches during the opening session were also focused on the need to bury the hostilities of the past, but a more focused discussion on the outstanding issues like the dispute over Kashmir or cross-border terrorism is expected to take place when these MPs meet behind closed doors.    Perhaps the most significant aspect of this gathering is the presence of members of some of the hardline religious groups who for the first time have agreed to sit across the table to listen to each other's point of view.    No-one is expecting a real breakthrough from this conference, but organisers say even if these MPs and writers agree to a joint declaration to support the early resumption of formal peace talks between Delhi and Islamabad, it will be a big achievement. Visit the related web page
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