LAHORE, Feb 26: Communist Party of India Secretary-General A.B. Bardhan has said elimination of religious extremism and a lasting regional peace were necessary for a bright future of the people in India and Pakistan.

Speaking at a reception hosted by the All-Pakistan Federation of Trade Unions in the honour of the visiting Indian CPI delegation here, he said the people's lot would improve only when the two countries bade farewell to war-mongering and agree to resolve the disputes through a peaceful dialogue.

The government should utilize the resources allocated for defence for providing health care and education of the people if peace was established in the region.

Marxist Communist Secretary-General Sujeet Singh said Indians and Pakistanis were deprived of the basic human rights and forced to live in misery because of inequitable distribution of resources.

He said he was pleased to witness love and affection of Pakistani workers for their Indian counterparts despite continuous war-mongering by religious extremists.

Pakistan Federation of Trade Unions Secretary-General Gulzar Ahmad Chaudhry said in his address of welcome that the visit of Indian communist parties' delegation had provided a rare opportunity to the workers of the two countries to play their role for reducing the tensions created by extremists and pressuring their governments to resolve their disputes through peaceful negotiations so that the resources being wasted on defence could be utilized for the welfare of the masses.

Other federation leaders stressed the need for peaceful resolution of disputes between India and Pakistan through dialogue, easing visa restrictions to facilitate frequent visits of people, and steps for rooting out religious extremism in both the countries.