Indian and Pakistani expatriates here have welcomed the restart of talks between nuclear rivals India and Pakistan. The visit to Pakistan by India's Minister of External Affairs Parnab Mukherjee is the first high-level diplomatic contact India has had with a civilian government in Islamabad. Both sides agreed to finalize an agreement to liberalize their visa rules and facilitate people-to-people contacts. “I think this would be a good move by countries to ease the visa regime on the lines of the US, Canada and Mexicans,” said Usman Rashid, an Indian teacher. The talks agreed to ease visa rules and boost confidence building measures (CBMs) as well as increase the frequency of Muzaffarabad to Srinagar, Rawalkot to Poonch bus services, modalities for intra-Kashmir trade, truck service, and accomplishment of other measures to expand and facilitate travel. Ramzaan Malik, a member of Pakistani community, welcoming the agreement said: “This advice was given by Pakistan Muslim League's (PML-N) leader Mian Muhammed Nawaz shareef to Asif Ali Zardari (co-chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party-PPP) to abolish visa system between the two countries to improve their bilateral ties and promote a free movement of people from across the border.” PML-N leader even favored that Pakistan should unilaterally abolish the mandatory visa requirement for Indians. Separated families mostly live in Karachi and those going to India have to travel to Islamabad to obtain a visa. Indians undergo the same rigor to visit their relatives in Pakistan. Both countries need peace across their borders. “Kashmir solution should be found within the general pattern of normalization of political and economic relations with India,” said Afaq Razi, an Indian sales representative. “I support the visa-free regime as part of confidence-building measures to resolve the lingering Kashmir issue,” he said. However, Rehan Soomro, a Pakistani expsatraie, has a different opinion. “First make the relations good, which is only possible when Kashmir dispute is resolved. Before that, I don't think this step is right,” he said. Allowing free trade and exchange of cultural visits are good measures, but there is a need for some level of control to catch criminals and stop terrorists from taking advantage of this facility, maintained Soomro. Asif Ali Zardari was also taken to task for being soft on India without making it fork out Kashmir. He had earlier stated that he would like to see rapid normalization with India while Kashmir remained on the discussion table. Lubna Ahsan, a teacher from Karachi, criticized those who think that crossing border freely means that merging into one's country. “We have our own identity,” she said. “Economic prosperity will come if border regulations are eased. It also improves political ties and trust,” she said. In the period of six decades India and Pakistan have engaged in three wars and several major battles. Mistrust abounded in both countries. They blame each other for any incidence of terrorism. And once again, an opportunity presents itself for the two democracies to seize the moment. __
