KARACHI, June 12: City Nazim Naimatullah Khan has said that the Kashmir issue got adequate importance at the annual globalization conference held in Rome from May 22 to 27.

Mr Khan was one of the participants of the conference attended by 40 to 45 mayors of the world’s major cities.

Narrating his impressions, at a press conference here on Thursday, the Nazim pointed out that the former British prime minister, John Major, in his speech highlighted the significance of the issue in ensuring peace. Mr Major, he added, said that the issue was important not for Pakistan and India alone but for the entire world. In this regard, the British ex-premier reminded that Pakistan and India had fought three wars on the issue and both of them had now become nuclear powers, Mr Khan told newsmen. He said that Mr Major warned that the factor of the rival neighbours’ nuclear-capability had made the scenario extremely dangerous which demanded efforts for a settlement of Kashmir issue as promised by the then Indian PM Nehru who had pledged a plebiscite in the territory.

Naimatullah Khan said that apart from John Major, he had a chance of meeting with the President of World Bank, James D. Wolfensohn, Mayor of Istanbul Ali Mufti Gurtuna, Mayor of Washington Anthony A. Williams, Mayor of Belgrade Radmila Hrustanovic and Mayor of Delhi Ashok Kumar Jain.

He termed his meeting with Mr Jain ‘a good encounter’. We exchanged invitations to visit each others’ city, he added.

The Nazim said that Rome conference could be described as a ‘movement of localization against globalization’.

Further elaborating the objectives of the Forum, Mr Khan said that peace and development were local, not global, subjects. Big cities, he contended, could play a pivotal role in peace and progress around the world. He said that the Forum believed that the policies framed at global level while ignoring the participation of people at local level had little chances of success.

Another issue that figured high at the conference was the establishment of a network of major cities to bring their citizens to the global stage. The need for adopting ‘city diplomacy’ to ensure world peace was also stressed, he added.

Considering that today’s youth is under-represented in decision making circles, the conference recommended participation of young generation in local and global governing structures.

For this purpose, Mr Khan said, a ‘glocal youth parliament’ — as a global-local vehicle for youth empowerment — was launched by mobilizing youth of 16-20 age group from cities around the world in order to develop an urban agenda for 2020. This parliament will serve as youth-led lobby and advocate the agenda locally and globally.