Pakistan-India Bilateral Dialogue

New Delhi; November 20-21, 2014

JOINT DECLARATION

Delegates urge Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan

to resume stalled bilateral dialogue, move decisively
for normalisation of relations, and jointly work
towards realisation of the SAARC Vision
On the invitation of the Regional Peace Institute (RPI), Pakistan, supported by the Hanns Seidel
Foundation, Pakistan, a 16-member delegation led by the former Foreign Minister of Pakistan,
Mr. Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, visited India to attend the second round of the Pakistan-India
Bilateral Dialogue in New Delhi on November 20-21, 2014. Other members of the delegation
included Raoof Hasan, Shaiq Usmani, Isphanyar Bhandara, Ambassador Aziz Ahmed Khan,
Harris Khalique, Dr. Ishtiaq Ahmed, Dr. Hassan Shah, Dr. Masooda Bano, Ms. Shala Hasan, Dr.
Farzana Bari, Nazish Brohi, Peter Jacob and Faisal Rehman.
Led by Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyar, the Indian delegation comprised Salman Khurshid, Ambassador
N.N. Jha, Dilip Padgaonkar, Sunil Kant Munjal, Sandeep Dikshit, Pran Neville, Sudheendra
Kulkarni, Ashok Malik, Verghese George, Suhasini Haider, Dr. Ajay Darshan Bahera, Shikhar
Singh, Seema Mustafa, Teesta Setalwad, Prof. Hilal Ahmed, Kaveri Bamzai, Dr. Nishi Taneja,
Karuna Nundy, Dr. Charu Gupta, Romi Khosla, Anjali Chandel, Ravi Vig, Vidya Shankar Aiyar
and Bhuvanaya Vijay.
Hanns Seidel Foundation was represented by Mr. Kristof Duwaerts.
There were four sessions held during the conference dealing with the following subjects:
1. Irreversible Engagement: The Political and Security Dimesions
2. Unleashing the Business Potential: Trade, Investment and Economic Cooperation
3. Constructive Cooperation: Social Sector, Poverty Alleviation, Human Resource
Development
4. Soft Power: Media, Films, Tourism and People-to-People Contacts
There was a frank, cordial and constructive discussion regarding all issues that have traditionally
plagued the relations between the two neighbouring countries. The delegates also noted with

concern the lack of progress made since the first round of the RPIs unofficial Pakistan-India
Bilateral Dialogue that took place in Islamabad on June 14, 2014.
The delegates reiterated the desirability indeed, the imperative need of peace between the
two countries.
They reiterated their resolve to spread the message of peace and normalization of bilateral
relations among a larger cross-section of people on both sides of the border. Public awareness
should be urgently raised about the need for creating a critical mass of societal and political
consensus on tackling all the outstanding tension-generating issues between India and Pakistan.
The delegates noted with concern that the encouraging meeting between the Prime Ministers
of the two countries at the time of Mr. Narendra Modis inaugural in New Delhi in May 2014
has not been followed up by efforts to move forward on the normalisation process. On the
contrary, the envisaged meeting between the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan got
cancelled.
India and Pakistan should not remain hostage to their history of conflict. Rather, they should
become a beacon of hope for the entire South-Asian region by making a genuine effort to move
beyond conflict. Therefore, the delegates would like to bring the following issues and action
points for the urgent consideration of the governments of India and Pakistan:
1. The Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan should not miss the opportunity for a muchanticipated resumption of bilateral talks on the sidelines of the SAARC Summit in
Kathmandu on November 26-27, 2014.
2. The ice-breaking in Kathmandu should be followed by an early summit-level talks
between the two Prime Ministers, either in New Delhi or Islamabad, with a well-planned
and comprehensive agenda. The components of such an agenda are already in place in
the several bilateral agreements, declarations and joint statements concluded by the
two countries. What is needed is strong political will on both sides, and a determination
to resolve all outstanding issues, including Kashmir and cross-border terrorism.
3. As agreed to by the two governments in 2005, the dialogue between India and Pakistan
should have an irreversible character. It should not be interrupted by differences or
unpleasant developments. Experience has shown that tensions have significantly
lowered whenever dialogue has continued in an uninterrupted manner.
4. The people of the two countries have entrusted their respective governments with the
responsibility of normalization of relations. Moreover, the two governments also owe
this to the people of other SAARC countries. It is unfortunate that the continuing IndiaPakistan gridlock has enormously slowed the realisation of the Vision of SAARC.

Therefore, India and Pakistan must achieve significant progress before SAARC celebrates
its 30th anniversary next year.
5. Acts of terrorism must be condemned and combated with a zero-tolerance approach,
irrespective of who masterminds these, what their motives are, and against whom these
are perpetrated. Terrorism is a heinous crime which along with the ideologies of
extremism and bigotry fueling it has to be eliminated in its entirety. In this context, it
should be recognised that Pakistan, like India, has also been a victim of terrorism.
Therefore, we urge the two countries to begin cooperation, along with the rest of the
international community, to combat the menace of terrorism.
6. Simultaneously, strenuous efforts should be initiated to promote and strengthen the
common heritage of religious freedom, tolerance, plurality, peace and brotherhood. In
particular, the rights of religious minorities in both India and Pakistan must be respected
and protected.
7. The recent flare-ups along the Line of Control (LoC) have intensified tensions. The killing
of many soldiers and civilians on both sides is deeply unfortunate. The Governments of
our two countries have a responsibility to ensure non-violation of the ceasefire
agreement and to maintain tranquility along the border.
8. The two governments should take strong and speedy steps to remove all impediments
in expanding bilateral cooperation in the trade, investment, business and economic
spheres. Official two-way trade can be easily quadrupled within the next couple of
years from the current level of $ 2.8 billion. This will greatly contribute to employment
generation and, consequently, prosperity on both sides.
9. For a subcontinent that has a rich spiritual and civilizational heritage, it is a source of
concern and discredit that India and Pakistan, and South Asia in general, have the
largest concentration of poor people with multiple deprivations. Poverty alleviation
must become the highest priority of our two countries. Precisely for this reason, India
and Pakistan should increase to the maximum extent possible our expenditure on
accelerating socio-economic development and improving the living standards of our
common people.
10. The security of our two countries can be greatly enhanced by reducing the trust deficit.
This can be achieved by expanding the people-to-people connectivity in multiple other
sectors education, healthcare, culture, cinema, music, literature, tourism, scientific
research, technological innovation, and disaster management. There is an urgent need,
especially, to increase constructive cooperation in social sector development and
human resource enrichment by learning from and replicating best practices and success

stories. This would further expand and strengthen the constituency of peace. To
promote trust and understanding, India and Pakistan should appoint some Goodwill
Ambassadors from the civil society, particularly artists, actors, writers and
sportspersons.
11. The print and television media, along with the rapidly growing social media, in both
India and Pakistan have a responsibility not to spread and strengthen prejudices about
each others country. They also have a responsibility to promote better understanding
and disseminate authentic information, which is necessary to remove the prevailing
trust deficit.
12. There should be a South Asian mechanism for the protection of human rights, with India
and Pakistan taking the lead.
13. The excruciatingly restrictive visa policy practiced by both India and Pakistan must be
liberalized in order to promote people-to-people connectivity. In particular, divided
families on both sides of the border should be enabled to reunite by making issuance of
visa automatic for them, and also for many other categories of visitors.
14. The two countries should open consular offices, beginning immediately with Mumbai
and Karachi, to promote both trade-business relations and also people-to-people
contacts.
15. There is an urgent need for a joint effort by the two governments, and also by the
scholars and thought leaders, of India and Pakistan to revisit our shared history, so that
our children and youth get a positive understanding, which is so essential for creating a
better shared future.
The delegates noted that now is the time for the governments and civil societies in both India
and Pakistan to intensify the work for peace. With the two governments well settled in both
countries, the respective leaderships should take urgent steps for a peaceful, productive,
cooperative and good-neighbourly relationship. They owe this to over 1.5 billion people of our
two countries, a majority of whom have languished in the realm of poverty and
underdevelopment. The spectre of war is too harrowing a prospect to contemplate, and hence
must be delegitimized by both sides. Dialogue being the only civilized way for the resolution of
disputes and conflicts, it must be adopted in an uninterrupted and, as far as possible,
uninterruptible manner by the two leaderships.
No more false starts, no more half-hearted initiatives, and no more abdication of responsibility
to make peace.