Following are excerpts from keynote speech of Altaf Hussain, MQM founder and leader, at the international conference titled: India and the World: A Blueprint for Partnership and Growth, organised by the Hindustan Times Leadership Initiative in New Delhi on November 5-6, 2004. Ladies and Gentlemen: The Confidence-Building Measures contemplated to bring the people of both countries closer must be implemented vigorously. Let there be free people to people contact, let there also be cultural and social contacts, sporting contacts, political contacts, economic contacts, diplomatic contacts and if considered prudent by both countries, even military-to-military contacts to further peace and harmony. Presently, people-to-people contact ostensibly appears to be Punjab-to-Punjab contact. Sindh is also part of the region and therefore, her people equally deserve to freely interact with the people of adjoining states of India. However, denial to reopen the Khokrapar Munabao border and ferry service between Karachi and Mumbai is nothing but stifling the rights of the people of Sindh. The people of Sindh are forced to take an expensive route via Islamabad to obtain visas and then Lahore to catch the train or the bus. It is now incumbent on the governments of India and Pakistan to reopen the visa office in Karachi, which would further better the relationship. I have recently aired a few thoughts on Realism and Practicalism copies of which are in this hall. I will appreciate your comments on it. The spirit and essence of it is that we must accept the ground reality without blinkers. The reality today is that India and Pakistan are at loggerheads and as a result the region is in turmoil. Dialogue between India and Pakistan should be pursued in diversity and should not be a hostage to Kashmir issue only. Practicalism seeks ways for common or agreed grounds. When we talk of Kashmir there are several procedural and allied issues which crop up. Is it a bilateral issue? Do the people of Kashmir come into the equation? I have a habit of speaking freely without mincing my words. I intend continuing to do so and gladly invite my critics to correct me on the credibility and the plausibility of my views, objectively, in India, Pakistan and internationally. To deal with Kashmir, there has to be a basis or options on which the talks could take place. What could those options be? Is the recently-talked-about Chenab Formula an option? Is Dixon Plan an option? Could formalisation of the Line of Control be an option? Are there any more options that we may not know about? We also talk about the UN resolutions, could they be enforced? If it was enforceable, why has it not been enforced in the past? What have Tashkent and Simla Agreements and the Lahore Declaration yielded? Practicalism and Pragmatism call for acceptance of what is in existence or has been in existence instead of arbitrary new ideas. I understand that the people of Kashmir are also aspiring for independence, even for this option, negotiations have to take place. Negotiations are the primary condition for all options. The Line of Control could well be used as the basis to begin negotiations by virtue of being a ground reality, which has existed for the past three decades. I am saying, use this as a basis or option to begin talks until such a time that a practicable alternative option is found. What is wrong with it? If both countries resolve that crossing this line would be considered as aggression, doesnt it in lay mans terms amount to an international border? If not, what is an international border? And, if this is not an option, then what options are we left with, another war? We have fought three wars over Kashmir, the governments may have achieved political victories and defeats, but what did the people achieve? Body bags of the soldiers and civilians, more widows and orphans, more taxes, contribution to war funds, poverty and backwardness. And, if we remain intransigent and squander this opportunity, the cost to be paid in the long term could be horrid. Before I go further I would like to quote the Prayer of St Francis of Assisi (1181), Where there is hatred, let me sow love .... On the spirit of this prayer I would like to request both the countries, India and Pakistan, to stop sowing the seeds of hatred and start sowing the seeds of love. My plea is to let good sense and logic prevail and to let our people prosper. Let us divert critically required funds from defence to social and economic sectors. Our children need education; our villages need clean drinking water, electricity, medical care, everywhere there is a crying need for employment, better civic amenities and transport facilities etcetera. Let common sense prevail over arrogance and political expediencies. Let us arm our children with education, health and hygiene than nuclear bombs and missile. I applaud President (now former) General Pervez Musharraf for making a bold and courageous statement discarding plebiscite as an option. I had always maintained that it was never a practicable or implementable option. For the past 57 years, the leaders of Pakistan had not only misled the nation but also failed them by keeping them illiterate, impoverished, hungry, thirsty and without health facilities under the rubric of Kashmir to benefit one province to the detriment of other provinces. The United States of America, now the unipolar power of the world and her western allies have historically supported the dictatorial and monarchical rulers in the developing world for their short term gains and opposed the moderate, liberal and enlightened middle class, as their sustained foreign policy. Their policies and mindsets have always been election-centric. They failed to calculate long-term repercussions of their foreign policies. These authoritarian and monarchical rulers deliberately promoted religious, sectarian, ethno-linguistic fanaticisms on the strength of the unbridled support of the west to protract their rules. Oppressed their people and produced Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda and Saddam Hussain. And to rein in these forces, the US and her allies had to wage a global war against terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq. As a result of these wars, thousands of innocent people are being killed and millions of people are facing the wrath for no fault of theirs but their rulers. Inflictions of atrocities are resulting in psycho reactionary actions amongst millions. It is now essential for the United States of America and her western allies to review their policies, they should now support and nurture the moderate, enlightened and liberal middle class who are capable of dismantling the religious, sectarian and ethno-linguistic fanaticisms and established genuine democracies which would be mutually beneficial for their people and the West. In case of Pakistan, the historical and sustained support to feudal-mullah-military alliance by the US and West has already proved negative and has permeated rampant corruption, bad governance, denial of rights to the smaller provinces, illiteracy, impoverishment, unemployment, frustration amongst general populace and above all the religious, sectarian and ethno-linguistic fanaticism and violence. South Asian countries in general and India and Pakistan in particular need do no more than draw lessons from Europe, whose post-war history is roughly the same length as our two nations. The European Union, which emerged out of the dictates of the economic well being of its people and the desire to fully actualise their individual potential in a collective manner, is a live demonstration of the possibilities that can be envisaged by the dynamic minds of visionary leaders. We should yearn for the day when we have a Common Union, perhaps even a common currency while maintaining our sovereignties and dignities intact. We have the Saarc more in form than in content due to the rancour, which has blinded us. South Asia remains one of the most unintegrated regions of the world. The creation of a free trade zone along with some degree of economic integration of Saarc countries could turn the region into a huge regional economic market, second only to China in terms of size. If futuristically developed along with a network of roads and railway connections to South-East Asia and Central Asia, the future of our succeeding generations would indeed be bright. Restrictions on bilateral trade have forced both countries to import goods from third countries, which could have been traded far more economically, and efficiently from each other. Indo-Pak trade would ensure cheaper raw material, low transportation, less insurance costs, etc., resulting in potential for quality products at competitive prices for consumers in both countries and larger markets for manufacturers. Having resolved the external issues, South Asian countries in general need to put their houses in order. They should stop discriminations on the basis of ethnicity, religion or descent. I request the Government of Pakistan to recognise and indemnify all the religious and ethno-linguistic and national minorities and treat them equally to foster a sense or ethno-linguistic pluralism and nationalism. All the governments in the past have deliberately strengthened ethno-linguistic particularism in Pakistan under the rubrics of numerical majority and power. In democracy, only the numbers should not count. A state becomes successful only when it is truly able to accommodate the aspirations and the needs of its minorities. Pakistan should genuinely strive to devolve power to the provinces making them fully autonomous, reserving for the federal administration only defence, foreign affairs and currency. If the Federation of the United States of America can remain stronger by having fully autonomous states, why should one assume that Federation of Pakistan would weaken if the provinces have fully autonomous status? Mainstream political forces, including the MQM, equipped with liberal and progressive ideological underpinnings have the capability of transforming Pakistan into a democratic and progressive state at peace with itself and its neighbours. They can deliver good governance, an independent judiciary and freedom of the media. The purpose of this conference is to discuss and prepare a road map for the economic, strategic and political future of India in relation to the world and the regional countries. To attain this objective we should find out the key to achieve positive results, which is peace in the South Asia region. The region is the first gate to be opened for, and then we should proceed to open the second gate, which is the world. The word peace is catalyst to positivism, success, prosperity, harmony, better economy, better understanding and relations with their neighbours. If the regional countries have peace and better relations, it would ultimately draw the remaining world towards the region. The peace is the only and only key through which India could have improved and long-lasting relations with the world but for this peace has to be established in the region first. The benefits that could be drawn by the South Asian countries including Pakistan through peace could never be achieved through the use of nuclear weapons, atom bombs, chemical and biological weapons and a massive army. India and Pakistan have considered each other as enemies since independence but now to achieve the sacred objective of peace, better and long-lasting relations, both countries have to engage in a meaningful and sincere dialogue and cease all hostilities against each other. Finally, I think South Asia needs to have a comprehensive human rights code that protects the people from unbridled state power. Freedom from poverty, hunger, illiteracy and provision of basic services be part of the human rights of the people of the Subcontinent and our governments should be promoting an environment in which the people of the Subcontinent achieve what people of other regions have achieved through peace and cooperation. (Concluded)