ISLAMABAD, June 4: No reasonable person can maintain that efforts for peacefully resolving differences between India and Pakistan have exhausted.

These views were expressed by a group of 50 participants drawn from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Maldives, says a press release.

The participants, which included journalists, politicians, lawyers, human right activists, teachers, government employees, researchers and civil society activists, were invited to meet at Wilton Park in Sussex, England, to discuss South Asian regional issues.

“Recognizing that the people of South Asia share a cultural heritage, that the history of our region overlap, combine and interconnect, we believe that the fortunes of each part of this region are inextricably linked to that of the others”, they said.

“We reject the legacy of animosity handed down by former generations. Our ties to each other transcend the narrow-minded prejudices which dog regional politics. The present generation of leaders is merely custodians of our inheritance and in the present circumstances these leaders are jeopardizing that inheritance,” they said.

The participants said every minute that political leaders devoted time to agitating regional strife was a minute diverted from pressing problems urgently demanding attention.

They said they believed that the spirit of goodwill and friendship should be a must for furthering regional co-operation and harmony.