June 27, 2003	Friday	Rabi-us-Sani 26,1424

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ISLAMABAD, June 26: Pakistan’s image has been deliberately distorted in India to gain political mileage, said the Indian Parliamentarian Shahid Siddiqui.

He was accompanying an Indian parliamentarians group recently concluded visit to Pakistan.

In an interview to a private TV channel, he said: “I personally have studied a lot of historical material about Pakistan, but my perception was very wrong about Pakistan ... It has totally changed following my current visit to Pakistan,” he added.

“Pakistani society is very tolerant and well behaved,” he said, adding: “In India, Pakistan is wrongly portrayed as a country having no tolerance ... In fact, we found nothing here in Pakistan which goes contrary to a civilized society’s norms and values.”

The Indian parliamentarian said the seeds of hatred between the Muslim and Hindu communities had been intentionally promoted.

Stressing the need for sincere efforts to sort problems confronting the two countries, he said a lot of time had already been lost, adding that there was a need for greater people-to- people contact between the people of Pakistan and India.

Expressing hope for the promotion of trade between the two countries, he said there was a huge potential that could be tapped by restoring normalcy in the relations.—APP