LAHORE: Speakers at an event on Wednesday stressed the need to revive the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) and go for other peace initiatives between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

It was the first meeting of the second phase of Beyond Boundaries, a Track I.5/II dialogue series undertaken by the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) in partnership with the Afghan Counterpart Women Peace and Security Organization (WPSO). The series brings together from both countries prominent journalists, civil society activists, former diplomats, parliamentarians, academicians and scholars as part of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Committee (PAJC) for Beyond Boundaries phase II, says a press release.

Speaking at the session, Elay Ershad, Member of the Oolasi Jirga (lower house of parliament), said every Pakistani and Afghan is part of a puzzle which will be complete only if all of us work together. She said members of the media and the civil society should not resonate their respective government’s positions. “We should come out of that mindset and propose our own independent thinking,” she said.

Dr Rasul Bakhsh Rais, eminent professor at LUMS, said the initiatives such as Beyond Boundaries are extremely important in a difficult geo-political environment and in view of the complicated bilateral relations. Governments usually lack vision, courage, and readiness for change and therefore it is the job of independent thinkers and think tanks to redirect the bilateral relationship.

Syed Ishaq Gailani, a former MP and presidential candidate, bemoaned the latest visa restrictions such as no permission for entry into Cantonment areas as well as the treatment being meted out to the Afghan refugees.

The participants further supported facilitating exchanges of the media people, and formulation of shared code of conduct to regulate the media communication and that the two governments should simplify visa procedures and regulations for bona fide businessmen, students and parliamentarians.

The second meeting of the PAJC will be held November 13-17 in Herat and Kabul, Afghanistan.

Published in Dawn October 20th, 2016