Abiding desire for peace among people of India, Pakistan: Shashi Tharoor LAHORE: There is an abiding desire for peace among the people of India and Pakistan, parliamentarian Shashi Tharoor said here today as he underlined the need to boost direct bilateral trade for mutual benefits.

Tharoor, who began a four-day visit to Pakistan today, said here that if you go to the streets and talk to the ordinary people in India and Pakistan "there is no hatred and they do not want to see a war in future."

People in both countries realise that nothing can be achieved through hatred and they want to live in peace, said the former UN Under-Secretary General for Communications and Public Information, who who flew into Lahore with his wife Sunanda Pushkar.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too desires better relations between both countries, he added.

"The government of India desires that we live in peace. I spoke to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh before coming here and he wants both countries to live with love and peace," Tharoor said.

The former minister of state for external affairs called for boosting direct trade between the two countries, which last year resumed their peace process after a gap of nearly two years due to the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

"Pakistani manufacturers and exporters can get such a big market in India. It will be good for Indian consumers to get Pakistani products," he said.

"Right now, if you want to buy Indian products in Pakistan, you have to bring them in through Dubai and there is a mark-up of two to three times the actual price," he remarked.

Sunanda, who is of Kashmiri origin, told reporters that her family had links to Lahore.

"The food here is very good. I will be happy to drink Kashmiri tea again. I want to show my husband Lahore because part of my family was from this city," she said.

After spending two days in Lahore, the couple will travel to Islamabad, where Tharoor will address a meeting to be organised on Thursday by the Jinnah Institute, a think tank founded by Pakistan People's Party leader Sherry Rehman.

Tharoor will speak on the topic 'India and Pakistan: Cooperation or conflict'.

Courtesy: The Economic Times


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