ISLAMABAD, Aug 5: The ongoing talks between Pakistan and India will lead to a meaningful and sustainable outcome in the form of abiding peace and friendship only if the two governments sincerely strived for the betterment of the common man in both the countries.

This was stressed by speakers at a seminar held at the South Asian Centre (SAC) to discuss latest developments in the current series of talks between New Delhi and Islamabad, here on Thursday.

Both the countries are now nuclear powers. This meant that the possibility of resolving the Kashmir issue by a recourse to force has receded further, it was observed.

The policy of dovetailing normalization on the subcontinent to a settlement on Kashmir had proved to be a total failure over the last half a century. "So let us follow the path of peace and cooperation for a change," said former ambassador Prof B.A. Malik.

He cited the example of European countries which have set up the European Union in an effort to solve their problems and develop their peoples despite serious differences on various issues.

Similarly, he added, China had been pursuing a policy of bilateral trade and cooperation with the United States and India in spite of disagreements in political and strategic matters with each of them.

"The core issue between Pakistan and India is peace and friendship rather than Kashmir," he contended, arguing that Pakistan's high moral ground on Kashmir could be credible only if it set its own house in order by establishing democracy and freeing the common people from the uncertainty about whether they would have something to eat in the evening.

"In a state of affairs in which there is uncertainty whether a certain person will shed his uniform on December 31, 2004, Pakistan is on a slippery ground in seeking solution to its problems through negotiations with India," he remarked.

Only by attending to the common man's needs, both immediate and long-term, could Pakistan strengthen its position in the negotiations, he added. Aftab Sulehri from the International Human Rights Observer said respect for basic human rights was imperative for peace and friendship between the two neighbours.

Dr Shaukat Ali Kazmi, former chief economist in the Planning Commission, said any debate on normalization should first attend to the ground realities of low economic growth rate in the two countries.

For many years, he recalled, the two countries after facing the shortage of money for their military buildups had curtailed the development expenditure. Noting with satisfaction that the two countries have now started talking of their intentions to improve the living conditions of their peoples, Mr Kazmi regretted that so far the interests of the common people had remained neglected as evident from the vast differences in the prices of basic necessities in the two countries due to higher taxes in Pakistan.

Referring to the discourses on human rights, he remarked, "a peace of bread comes before human rights." Tayyab Siddiqui, chairperson of SAC, said it was still not clear what the Kashmir issue was about: is it a territorial dispute or an issue related to self-determination?

Our insistence on the inclusion of Kashmir in every international resolution has culminated in the world's fatigue. He recalled the Chinese leadership's advice to Pakistan not to let its position on Kashmir stand in the way of cooperation in economic, cultural and political spheres in the interests of its own people.