KARACHI, May 17: Congratulating millions of marginalized people of India for giving their unequivocal verdict against the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to support secular forces , the Pakistan Peace Coalition has stressed that the time had come to do away with the present obnoxious anti-people visa system, facilitate free exchange of information and cultural exchange and re-open Khokhrapar-Monabao rail and road links, as well as the sea route.

In a joint statement issued here on Monday, the PPC also called for opening dialogue on all contentious issues, including Kashmir, with the sincere intention of resolving them and taking positive steps towards the creation of a close-knit economic cooperation network in South Asia. The network, it said, should be capable of countering the onslaught of World Bank, IMF, WTO and other international funding agencies and trans-national corporations.

It hoped that the unexpected outcome of the recent elections in India would not only open the way for lasting peace between Pakistan and India, but would also help promote the development of a truly secular and democratic polity free from the scourge of criminalization of politics.

It also called for putting an end to militarization, nuclearization and all other forms of weaponization, and eradicate sectarianism, religious extremism and intolerance.

The PPC, at the outset, congratulated the people of India, especially the poor and marginalized millions in villages and townships, for rejecting, what it called, the pro-imperialist NDA dominated by religious fundamentalist BJP, in favour of the forces of secularism, peace, democracy and religious tolerance, represented by the progressive political formation of the leftist parties and the Indian National Congress.

The PPC stressed that it had strived from its very inception to foster friendly relations between Pakistan and India through promoting close people-to-people interaction at various levels.

In this context, it recalled the February 1999 peace conference in this metropolis, and expressed satisfaction that the forces of religious fundamentalism and reaction in India had been defeated.

It was of the view that the triumph of the secular democratic forces in India would have a positive impact on Pakistan and would strengthen further and accelerate the peace process between the two countries in the interest of the billion plus poverty-stricken people of the subcontinent.