KARACHI, Jan 3: In a joint statement initialled by peace activists from both sides of the Indo-Pak border, the Pakistan-India People's Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) has demanded of New Delhi and Islamabad to respect the rights of their minorities.

It also welcomed the goodwill gestures demonstrated by the governments of India and Pakistan prior to the Saarc summit. Such positive overtures would definitely help in moving towards a dialogue between the two governments, it said.

"We also welcome the move to create a South Asian Free Trade Area in the region," said the statement that was released to the media on Saturday. "The consensus that emerged in the foreign secretaries meeting reflects that governments have taken the first step towards creating a regional economic block but there is a long way to go."

The statement called for the settlement of the Kashmir dispute, according to the aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. It also called for the withdrawal of troops from the LoC and the establishment of an effective and accountable mechanism to ensure protection of life and liberty of the people of J&K, particularly women.

"We stress that without adequate protection of religious, linguistic, cultural and political minorities there can be no democracy. There can be no justice without granting redress to the victims of human rights abuses especially with connivance of the state," added the statement.

The statement was initialled, from the Pakistani side, by Dr Mubashir Hasan, Anis Haroon, Shahid Fiaz, I.A. Rehman, Dr Haroon Ahmed, M.B. Naqvi, Rahat Saeed, Saleha Athar, Anwer Abbas, Arif Khan, M.H. Askari, Uzma Noorani and Afrasiab Khattak.

From the Indian side it was signed by Dr Ashok Mitra, Tapan K. Bose, Gautam Navlakha, Sahiba Hussain, Syeda Hameed, Sushil Khana, Amit Chakroborty, Neera Adarkar, Vijayan Chauhan, E. Deenadayalan, Vijayan M.J. Rita Manchanda and Ritu Menon.