'India visit helped in better understanding of views'

A Pakistani peace delegation has said its interaction with civil society groups and political leadership during a visit to India has helped develop better understanding of the points of view of the two countries.

The peace mission, which was in New Delhi last week to help defuse tensions sparked by the Mumbai terror attacks, returned to Pakistan on Saturday. Senior journalist IA Rahman, who was part of the delegation, described the visit as quite fruitful.

"The main purpose of our visit was to express solidarity with the people of India. There are problems there and Indian people are still angry and want Pakistan to do many things," Rahman told reporters on his return.

The mission's interaction with Indian civil society, political leadership and retired bureaucrats had helped develop better understanding of each other's point of view, he said. "The visit was an opportunity to hear different voices in India and explain our point of view. The relations between the two neighbouring states should improve," Rahman added.

The delegation's three-day visit to India was organised by the South Asian Free Media Association and South Asians for Human Rights.

Senator Muhammed Adeel of the Awami National Party, another member of the delegation, said the dialogue process between India and Pakistan should continue. Adeel said he had found a "large constituency of peace" during his interaction with Indian intelligentsia and political leaders. Pakistan and India should cooperate with each other to counter terrorism, a common problem faced by the two countries, Adeel said.

Members of the peace mission also appealed to both countries to resume their stalled peace talks, adding that tensions would cause great loss to the people of the region. They said it would be a victory for terrorists if bilateral tension is not reduced.