Congress leader urges weekly Indo-Pak talks at Wagah Karachi: Former Indian minister Mani Shankar Aiyer on Saturday called for uninterrupted dialogue between India and Pakistan at the Wagah-Attary border on weekly basis to discuss all the pending issues.

He was speaking at a meeting with civil society organisations at the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER) centre.

"Instead of meeting in Delhi or Islamabad occasionally, both the governments should sit together regularly at the border to discuss all the disputed issues," he said.

Shankar, a former senior diplomat and a member of the ruling All India Congress, said Vietnam and the US used to meet at the Hotel Majestic Palace every Thursday and officials of the South and North Korean governments are still meeting on weekly basis.

"Why Pakistan and India cannot meet at the border on regular basis for dialogue? For this, they don't need any permission or visa," he said. He added that former president General Pervaiz Musharraf had initiated the process of back-channel diplomacy which was very successful.

Shankar, who has also served as a diplomat in Pakistan in the 1970s, said he had very close relations with the people of Pakistan. "I have come here more than 20 times. About 46 Pakistani guests had attended the marriage ceremony of my daughter."

About the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project, the former Indian minister for petroleum said it was he who had initiated this project because India needed gas for its energy needs at that time.

But today's situation is quite different in India, he said. "We have discovered a lot of gas at home, so our imported gas needs have declined. Our government considers gas as not so clean energy. Instead, nuclear energy is now our priority," he said. However, he added, India would need imported gas in the future.

Sunday, March 07, 2010

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