Mr. Rehman began by asking the question: dialogues
between India and Pakistan are taking place at various levels, so what is different about
this seminar?
He felt that in the seminar "we have looked at
peoples capacity to influence their governments."
A lot of new area was covered in this seminar and
therefore depth and detail were compromised. "There is no harm in admitting that in
terms of concrete suggestions we have not covered much ground." Yet it has been
ambitious and worthwhile in terms of the breadth of the topics discussed.
He suggested that the deliberations of this
seminar should be translated into respective national languages and widely disseminated.
Also, follow-up meetings should take place to pick up certain problem areas and find
solutions. He thanked the Jang group of Publications and the Freidrich/Naumann Foundation
for facilitating this exchange of ideas and ended on an optimistic note by saying that
"the days of shouting and firing will soon come to an end." |