LAHORE, April 13: Speakers at a seminar have described cricket diplomacy as a positive tool for reducing tensions between the two countries and understanding other’s intentions without changing one’s policy. The seminar titled “Cricket Diplomacy Makes a Difference” was organised by the South Asia Free Media Association here on Wednesday.

Senior columnist I.A. Rehman said cricket diplomacy had always been a positive step and had been tested during various regimes in the history of Pakistan-India relationships.

He said former dictators Gen Zia and Gen Musharraf also tested the tool which established people-to-people contacts but failed to bring about a political change.

Holding the bureaucracy of both the South Asian neighbours responsible for complicating mutual relationships, he said the bureaucrats did so much ‘misleading’ propaganda that for fear of public reaction the governments refrained from taking a positive measure to normalise the ties.

He warned that Islamabad would have to drastically reform its internal affairs to avoid the comments like in the past that who to talk with -- army, America or the government.

Mr Rehman was optimistic that more ways to talks could be found through sports. He urged the Indian authorities to understand the game of certain forces in Pakistan and play their role in fighting these elements.

Defence analyst Dr Hasan Askari said sports was an untraditional mode for discussing bilateral issues without bearing the stress of formal meetings expected to be result-oriented.

He observed that the Mohali cricket match brought political leaderships of both the countries closer. He said if the two states could not sort out any of the Siachin, Sir Creek or visa issues by the year-end, it would mean that the cricket diplomacy had failed to deliver.

Urging leaders of both the countries to avoid egoism, he said those responsible for framing Pakistan’s foreign policy should see that the country was facing a serious economic crisis and that any misadventure could damage the policy-makers as well as the country.

He said both the leaderships should move from thinking within the framework of nation-states and adopt the way that best suited the welfare of people across the borders.

Columnist Khalid Ahmed gave a dissenting note by saying that Pak-India relationships went from bad to worse after cricket diplomacy.

He said India was a powerful state able to check extremist forces within the country whereas Pakistani state was weaker, where extremists were dominant and ready to spoil any chance of friendship.

He opposed waiting for a solution to disputes for establishing peace and called for setting aside all conflicts to give peace a chance.