------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Give underprivileged students the materials they need to learn. Bring education to life by funding a specific classroom project. http://us.click.yahoo.com/FHLuJD/_WnJAA/cUmLAA/1TwplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~->
Daily Times May 28, 2005 Peace forum calls for continuous pressure for peace Staff Report KARACHI: Speakers at a seminar on the peace process between Pakistan and India on Friday feared that the process was reversible, and said that continued pressure by peace activists on the governments of the two nuclear-armed neighbours was needed for its continuity. "We must persist in our efforts, not allowing the two governments to reverse this process which is bound to normalise relations between Pakistan and India," Brig AR Siddiqui, a noted defence analyst, said in his speech at the seminar on "Imperatives of denuclearisation and the peace process", organised by the Pakistan-India People's Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) at the Rafia Chaudhry Memorial Centre. He said it was time for conflict resolution, and supported President Musharraf's policy of normalising relations with India with particular emphasis on the resolution of the Kashmir dispute. Referring to the nuclear deterrence between the United States and the former Soviet Union, which he termed natural given the vast geographic distance between the two superpowers, he said deterrence needed a considerable distance which did not exist in the case of India and Pakistan. "Because any nuclear attack on one side would certainly affect the other." Refuting the claims that Pakistan's nuclear assets were in safe custody and could not be proliferated or known to the outside world, the defence expert mentioned reports of the theft of some equipment from the Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (Kanupp), and emphasised that Kanupp was also a nuclear facility, "which shows it is not safe." Brig Siddiqui said the United States knew everything including the Pakistan's nuclear facility. "Besides, an atom bomb does not ensure a complete defence to the country. It is stability in all spheres which strengthens a country's defence, and not bombs." To a question, Brig Siddiqui said the United States needed no peace process to eliminate Pakistan's nuclear assets. Prominent intellectual MB Naqvi advocated a perpetual peace process between the two neighbours and said the people on both sides should not allow the rulers to disrupt the ongoing normalisation of relations between India and Pakistan. He said it was the only way towards permanent peace in South Asia. Noted political analyst Dr Jaffar Ahmed said the nuclear issue should be seen in light of internal dynamics of the country in question. Besides, he said, the defence mechanism should not be dominant but it should be devised or attained in a way that it should not go unmanageable. "Otherwise, the internal dynamics would allow the martial forces overpowering the civilian forces." He said a better defence needed the umbrella of democracy, otherwise the very system would "eat everything". _________________________________ SOUTH ASIANS AGAINST NUKES (SAAN): An informal information platform for activists and scholars concerned about Nuclearisation in South Asia South Asians Against Nukes Mailing List: archives are available @ two locations May 1998 - March 2002: <groups.yahoo.com/group/sap/messages/1> Feb. 2001 - to date: <groups.yahoo.com/group/SAAN_/messages/1> To subscribe send a blank message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> South Asians Against Nukes Website: www.s-asians-against-nukes.org SOUTH ASIANS AGAINST NUKES (SAAN): An informal information platform for activists and scholars concerned about the dangers of Nuclearisation in South Asia SAAN Website: http://www.s-asians-against-nukes.org SAAN Mailing List: To subscribe send a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SAAN Mailing List Archive : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SAAN_/ ________________________________ DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed in materials carried in the posts do not necessarily reflect the views of SAAN compilers. Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SAAN_/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
