ISLAMABAD, Jan 12: Speakers at a seminar here on Monday welcomed the initiation of dialogue with India but expressed concern over, what they said, lack of institutional support to the peace process besides doubting the sincerity of President Gen Pervez Musharraf.

The seminar on "Saarc: Gains and Losses" was organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute. Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) Senator Prof Khursheed Ahmed said neither parliament nor the cabinet was taken into confidence before initiation of the peace process. Talking about the South Asia Free Trade Area (Safta) treaty, he said it was a good beginning but the economy could not be improved unless political issues were resolved. He said Safta was a step in the right direction but the initiative was being taken in a wrong manner.

He stressed the need for increasing trade within the Saarc countries before implementing the treaty. He said trade among the European Union nations amounted to about 61 per cent, the Asean states about 28 to 30 per cent while it was only four per cent in the case of Saarc countries.

"Saarc is a positive development provided we played according to the rules and took ground realities into consideration," he maintained. Prof Khursheed said the joint statement should have been signed by the two prime ministers. He said it seemed that the government was showing weakness on the Kashmir issue because of external pressure, which, he added, was evident from the statement of US secretary of state Colin Powell. He said Pakistan had made concessions even before starting talks with India.

People's Party Parliamentarians (PPP) Senator Farhatullah Babar regretted that whenever his party made concrete suggestions and offered an alternative vision of peace, it was dubbed a "security risk." He said the security apparatus in Pakistan had monopolized patriotism and treated itself as the sole arbiter to define what was meant by national security and national interests.

He said the PPP and civil society supported the peace process because peace in the region was the only way to cut down excessive military spending and eliminate the role of generals in politics.

Quoting from the joint declaration, which said "President Musharraf reassured Prime Minister Vajpayee that he will not permit any territory under Pakistani control to be used to support terrorism in any manner", Mr Babar said it meant that Pakistan recognized that cross-border infiltration had been taking place.

He said the peace process was fragile because legitimate representatives of the people had no consensus on it. He said it would be a disaster if the process was designed by Gen Musharraf as a tactical move to ward off international criticism about the renewed Taliban activity and allegations of nuclear proliferation.

He said decisions taken by a general could not give confidence to the Kashmiris, the people of Pakistan and indeed could not win the trust of Indian people.

He said dialogues with India had always been used by Gen Musharraf for advancing his personal political agenda. He said civil society and democratic political parties should demand an openness, public debate and institutionalization of the decision-making process. He said a great advantage of the recently-concluded summit was that it would put to test the sincerity whether the signatories meant business or it was also a fraud on the people.

Defending Gen Pervez Musharraf's steps, Pakistan Muslim League-Q Senator Tariq Azeem said it was wrong to say that the people of Kashmir were being ignored in the peace process. He said Gen Musharraf had held talks with the representatives of the Kashmiris before and after the Saarc summit.

He assured the participants of the seminar that everything would be presented before the parliament for debate. He termed the summit a great success as, he said, there was a time when even the Pakistani foreign minister was not welcomed in India when he wanted to personally deliver invitation for the summit to Mr Vajpayee. He said the success of the Pakistan-India talks depended on the fact that "how united we present ourselves as a nation."