He was speaking at the Meet the Press programme of the Lahore Press Club before leaving for India on completion of their week-long tour of Pakistan.
He said that people of both the countries as well as Kashmir had fed up with constant disturbances and incidence of violence which had an adverse effect of trade and other relations between the two countries.
He said that as far as the objections to putting the Kashmir issue to back burner was concerned “we have no objection if Kashmir issue is discussed first.”
The main purpose was that the both the countries should live as good friends, discarding all doubts and apprehensions. He said that they had come to Pakistan wishing very sincerely and earnestly that Pakistan should prosper and progress.
“The integrity, unity and prosperity of Pakistan is in the best interest of India whose integrity and prosperity is dependent on that of Pakistan,” he asserted.
Kuldip Nayar and other members of the peace mission observed while replying to the questions of newsmen that they had found a visible change in the attitude of the people of Pakistan who also wanted peace, friendship with India.
They said that it was high time that the people of both the countries should proceed with new hopes and aspirations and march on the journey to a new future burying the past bitterness, misunderstandings and distrust.
“If we do not change our attitude and remain stuck with the past then we cannot resolve our disputes and the conflict would continue,” they warned.
They said that a cross section of people — intellectuals, politicians, writers, journalists and the Jamaat-i-Islami leaders — in Pakistan had agreed on the need for resolving all disputes between the two countries through talks in an amicable and friendly atmosphere.
They said that the people-to-people contact had proved a useful exercise which must be continued at different levels.
Kuldip Nayar suggested that joint forum of parliamentarians of both the countries should be formed to continue the people’s contacts and a standing committee be formed to begin with. But it would require travel facilities for the visiting delegations from both the countries. He hoped that if it was not possible to abolish the visa system at the present stage, visa restrictions could be relaxed to a large extent and the requirement of registration of visitors by the police could be withdrawn.
He said that instead of issuing visa for a particular city all-country visa could be issued to facilitate the people to visit any place in a country they liked.
He said that a visa office should be opened at Wagah border and soft border proposal of Mr Vajpayee which he had put forward when he was foreign minister of India should be implemented.
Replying to a question, MP from Hyderabad Deccan K.M. Khan said that the decisions taken at the meetings presidents of Pakistan and the US at Camp David and that of Indian and Chinese prime ministers at Beijing were two important events.
He said that Mr Vajpayee’s recognition of Tibet as a part of China reflected India’s earnest desire to resolve all disputes with its neighbours, including Pakistan, peacefully through dialogue.
He said that Bush-Musharraf meeting was also important in which the US had offered a $3 billion package to Pakistan half of which would be for defence.
“We would like both Pakistan and India not to indulge in arms race; both should cut their defence expenditure for a durable peace and divert their funds to the programmes of poverty alleviation, education and health care.”
When a newsman asked how was it possible to have peace and friendship when less than a million of Indian army was perpetrating atrocities on Kashmiris, an MP from Kashmir representing National Conference said that the violence in Kashmir would stop the moment both the countries take a decision to resolve their disputes peacefully and an atmosphere of goodwill and friendship was created.
“Distrust” was the reply when a newsman asked what was the hurdle in pace and friendship between the two countries.
About the test firing of missiles by India, another MP said that unless a programme of peace and friendship was launched such defence activities would continue and millions of dollars would continue to be spent on them instead of other people welfare projects.
Replying to a question on the exchange of newspapers and journals between the two countries, Kuldip Nayar said that this should be done along with exchange of media people and journalists.
He suggested that an India-Pakistan editors council should be formed to help remove the misunderstandings among the journalists of both the countries which cause further misunderstandings among the people.
On the question of the Gujarat massacre of Indian Muslims and the demolition of Babri Mosque, Mr Kuldip and other members of the peace mission tendered their unqualified apology from the people of Pakistan and also from the people of their own country.
Mr Kuldip and Shahid Siddiqui opposed the division of Kashmir on the basis of religion. They said that India was a secular country and any attempt to divide the state on religious grounds would have a sharp reaction from the Hindu extremists and might result of heavy bloodshed and migration of tens of millions of Indian Muslims to Pakistan.