NA Foreign Affairs Committee conducts pubic hearing on 'Present and Future of Pak: India Relations'.

ISLAMABAD -- The National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs yesterday conducted a pubic hearing on the 'Present and Future of Pak: India Relations'.

Chairing the Public Hearing, MNA Mohsin Dawar asserted that Parliament has to reclaim its space on foreign policy ceded to non: elected officials.

He added that all matters of domestic and foreign policy shouldn't be seen only through the prism of security and stressed meaningful internal dialogue on the future engagements with India.

Being the first in a series of potential public hearings of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, the session would serve as prelude to sustained engagements with the civil society, academia, think tanks, media and other relevant stakeholders on matters of foreign policy.

The Public Hearing examined the evolving regional geopolitical dimensions, political, economic and legal underpinnings in Pak: India relations, track II diplomacy and confidence building measures as low hanging fruits in bilateral relations.

The experts and participants underlined the need for reviving and promoting people to people contacts and trade relations despite the inherent tensions in bilateral relations.

The experts cited that despite tensions China and India's trade continue to expand while Pakistan: India trade has completely halted.

One of the experts, reflecting on Pakistan's internal political instability and state's declining capacity, stated that India has no incentive to engage with a failing state...