ISLAMABAD, Sept 7: Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmud Kasuri inaugurated a media centre, set up by the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) in Islamabad on Wednesday. Speaking at the opening ceremony, organized by Safma, the minister said the well-equipped Media Centre, can play an important role in bringing the South Asian cultures closer to each other.

The centre would be open to the journalists. Safma is opening four such centres in Dhaka, Colombo, Kathmandu and New Delhi with video uplink facilities as a part of its effort to open up the borders of communication between these countries.

It can serve as a bridge between the South Asian countries and will provide a forum for diplomats, intellectuals and visiting foreign guests to interact with the local journalists and hold debates on current political, socio-economic, regional and international issues, the foreign minister said.

Initially it has been planned to hold meetings twice a month at the centre where experts and scholars would be invited to speak on regional and international issues. It will be gradually developed into a resource centre on South Asia.

Mr Kasuri lauded the association’s role in taking the initiative of easing tensions between India and Pakistan.

He admitted that the first India-Pakistan parliamentary conference organized by Safma in 1993 paved the way for initiation of a political dialogue between the leadership of the two countries.

He recalled that the visit of Indian parliamentarians, representing every shade of political opinion, and their open and frank dialogue with President Pervez Musharraf, broke the ice between the two countries.

Mr Kasuri said that the meeting also provided an opportunity to President Musharraf, who was till then called by the Indians as “Kargil man”, to explain his position before the Indian political leadership and remove misconceptions.

Mr Kasuri said the journalists summit on the sidelines of Saarc Summit in Islamabad and the South Asian parliamentary conference held in May were the other landmarks in Safma’s short history. He said Safma had greatly helped in moulding the public opinion in favour of peace between India and Pakistan, a job that could not have been done by the governments.

Speaking at the function, Indian High Commissioner Shivshankar Menon, also lauded the role of Safma and said it had gained recognition among the South Asian countries because of its achievements during the short span of time.

Mr Menon while responding to a suggestion, made earlier by Safma secretary-general Imtiaz Alam to both Indian and Pakistani governments to allow more television crews from each side to operate, said the Indian government would be too happy to allow television crews from Pakistan to operate from India on reciprocal basis.

Norwegian ambassador Janis Bjorn Kanavin, speaking on the occasion, said his country was funding Safma as a part of its effort to promote peace in South Asian countries, which had seen quite a turmoil in the past.

Earlier Safma secretary-general Imtiaz Alam in his opening remarks said the centre would serve as a forum to promoting dialogue between the South Asian countries and organize seminars, workshops and debates on issues concerning the region.

Mr Alam said Safma was also organizing the second India-Pakistan parliamentary conference in New Delhi in December as a follow up to the conference that was held in Islamabad in 2003.

Besides, he said, the organization would also hold a journalists’ summit on the sidelines of the forthcoming Saarc Summit in Dhaka.—Our Reporter