LAHORE, Dec 16: Pakistan People’s Party (Shaheed Bhutto) Punjab president Dr Mubashir Hasan advised President Gen Pervez Musharraf on Sunday to visit India on his way to China and hold talks with Prime Minister Vajpayee to deescalate tension between the two countries and prevent an armed conflict.

In a statement issued here, he said a visit by the Pakistani president after the attack on Indian parliament, would send a strong signal to the world community that Islamabad was opposed to all acts of terrorism.

He said the Indian prime minister should also reciprocate by undertaking a visit to Pakistan.

“Since the act has taken place in India an initiative by Pakistan to defuse the situation will be more appropriate”, the former minister said.

He said it was clear to everybody, more so to Pakistan, that there were organizations in this country which openly preached violence. He said this was bound to give the impression that Pakistan gave a free hand to such elements.

“The ties between these organisations and the Taliban are well known. Now that Pakistan is a partner in the world coalition routing the Taliban, it is essential that the government should come down on these organizations and stop their activities.”

The PPP(SB) leader said the attack on the Indian parliament highlighted an extremely critical environment in South Asia, in fact the whole world.

“No one really is at fault. Each nation is a victim of history. Even those who carry out the deadly attacks feel themselves impelled to sacrifice their lives.”

The former minister said it was not enough for Pakistan to deny allegations levelled by India as these were not rational times. “Something extraordinary needs to be done to defuse the situation.”

Dr Hasan said the whole thing had started on Sept 11. The US was unhinged as never before. “The US reaction of use of brute force was irrational and yet quite in tune with its history.”

It was imperative, he said, that both India and Pakistan paused and thought hard to avoid an armed confrontation. It was not the time to stand on egos. In the interest of peace and saving of countless innocent lives, it was better to take some steps backwards, the PPP(SB) leader said.

“In a world full of injustice and completely asymmetric power equations it is best to wait and let history take its course with as little violence as possible. “It will take another six months to a year to find out that fire burning in the hearts of individuals and groups of individuals cannot be quenched by bombs.”

He said the perpetrators of the criminal acts of violence were not American Indians who could be killed in larger numbers or driven into reservations. Something more than brute force was needed to exorcise the injustice rampant in four fifths of the world.