LAHORE, May 18: Pakistan and India should restore relations that existed prior to Dec 13, 2001, before initiating negotiations on any new issue.

This was emphasized by a group of Pakistani MPs who had returned on Saturday from a 10-day private visit to India.

Speaking at a news conference on Sunday, they urged Islamabad and New Delhi to implement, without raising any new controversy, the agreements signed by the two sides in the past.

The MPs included Ishaq Khakwani, Saleem Mazari, Dr G.G. Jamal, Abid Ali Shah, Begum Shakeela Rasheed, Begum Shahnaz and M.P. Bhandhara.

The visit had been arranged by the Pakistan-India Forum for Peace and Democracy for normalizing relations between the two nuclear neighbours through track-II diplomacy.

“The tour was aimed at breaking the ice,” they told newsmen.

They were very ecstatic about the response they had been given by all political parties, except the ruling BJP, civil society organizations and media.

Forum chief Dr Mubashar Hasan said that all government and opposition parties in India had been requested through letters for giving time to the Pakistani MPs. The BJP did not greet the (Pakistani) MPs for their visit was not according to the scheme of New Delhi to revive relations with Islamabad.

The MPs said: “most concerning point in discussions with the Indians was cross-border terrorism. We informed them that Pakistan itself was a victim of terrorism after Afghan war in the 1980s.”

The Indians were told that individuals may be involved in cross-border terrorism but not the government of Pakistan.

There were misconceptions about Pakistan among Indians. The Indians thought that being a religious state the women were not enjoying full rights in Pakistan. It was also alleged that Pakistani students were being taught syllabus that was creating hatred against Indians.

The MPs, however, refused to comment on the atmosphere prevalent in India regarding Pakistan “ for the sake of talks between the two governments.

Answering a question, the MPs said they favoured revival of communication, trade and cultural links between the two neighbours before touching issues like Kashmir.