LAHORE, July 12: Pakistani and Indian lawyers said on Tuesday that cordial relationship between the lawyers of the two countries had reached a stage which could serve as a launching pad to build common institutions for the welfare of the community and the general public. Bar Council of India chairperson Jagan Nath Patnaik and Lahore High Court Bar Association President Fakharunnisa Khokhar shared these views at a lunch reception hosted by the Punjab Bar Council for the 12-member Indian delegation currently on an eight-day visit to Pakistan.

They said the friendship between the two peoples was the only way to restore peace in the region where conflict loomed large for decades to make one-fifth of humanity suffer from poverty, hunger and disease. But it was high time that peace should be given a chance because the people in Pakistan and India were sick of antagonism, they added.

The leaders from both sides warned against elements which, they said, were out to sabotage the hard-earned peace process. They said the people in general and lawyers in particular were under a global obligation to frustrate designs of subverting the pace of negotiated settlement of outstanding disputes.

They said lawyers on both sides of the political divide could rightly claim credit to the initiative to exchange visits when other sections of society were still reluctant to cross over to the neighbouring country. The legal fraternity must serve as a watchdog in the peace process, which alone could be a catalyst to development and prosperity in the region.

Pakistan Bar Council vice-chairperson Hafiz Abdur Rehman Ansari, Punjab Bar Council vice-chairperson Asghar Ali Gill and advocate-general Chaudhry Muhammad Aftab Iqbal also spoke. Members of Pakistan and the Punjab bar councils and senior lawyers attended the reception.

The Indian delegation, which arrived here on Monday at the invitation of the Pakistan Bar Council, is due to leave for Peshawar on Wednesday (today). It is also scheduled to visit Islamabad and Karachi before leaving for home on July 18.