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Updated 22 Jul, 2013 06:54am

Bureaucratic, military-level talks urged with India

****ISLAMABAD: Key opinion makers from Pakistan and India have called for regular meetings between the two countries’ militaries and bureaucracies and greater relaxation in visa process, particularly for students and journalists.****

The call was made through a resolution adopted at the conclusion of the 12th round of Chaophraya Dialogue, organised by the Jinnah Institute, a think-tank, and the Australia-India Institute (AII) as part of Track II diplomacy in Bangkok, says a press release issued here on Sunday.

The participants, including parliamentarians, former diplomats, ex-military officers, media persons and policy experts from the two countries, were of the view that students and journalists could work towards improving relations and perceptions in their countries.

There were also calls for greater transparency in discussing nuclear arms and for both countries to commit to ensuring stability in Afghanistan.

The participants supported an early resumption of a fruitful dialogue process between the two countries.

Those who attended the dialogue included former ambassadors Sherry Rehman and Aziz Ahmad Khan, PPP MNA Naveed Qamar, PTI’s Shafqat Mahmood, retired Lt Gen Athar Abbas, Dr Saba Gul Khattak and Ali Dayan Hasan from Pakistan and Prof Amitabh Mattoo, Baijayant Jay Panda, former ambassador G. Parthasarathy, retired Lt Gen Arvinder Lamba, Dr Manoj Joshi, Mohan Guruswamy, Prof Ajay Darshan Behera, Dr Happymon Jacob, Prashant Jha, Dr Sushil Aaron and Dr Mallika Joseph from India.

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