KARACHI, Feb 18 “Peace prospects are there, but the situation will continue to remain volatile for some time,” said former information minister Javed Jabbar in a lecture on Indo-Pakistan peace prospects at Karachi University's department of international relations on Thursday.

Mr Jabbar, who has played an important role in bringing the two countries closer through culture and the media, was also part of the Nimrana peace initiative, hence equipped with thorough knowledge of the subject.

Criticising the narrow outlook India has towards Pakistan, Mr Jabbar stressed the need for a paradigm shift, from “India-fixation” to “India management” in Pakistan's perception too. Saying that this attitude would only lead to insanity, he asserted that “there is a need to identify it (India) for what it is”, rather than lament its progression and our deterioration, for in many cases, we can learn from its example.

Mr Jabbar said Pakistan like India faced issues of population, education, economic growth and unemployment, and thus must move to build its human resource capability and economy just as India did. According to him, this would be the most effective defence against India and would guarantee security as seen in the case of several smaller countries with larger neighbours such as Singapore, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Taiwan, Cuba, Japan and South Korea.

Mentioning the unresolved issues plaguing Pakistan and India, Mr Jabbar said water had become a greater issue than Kashmir today. “Pakistan's agriculture is at stake and water should be the number one foreign and economic policy priority of Pakistan,” he said. Trade between the two countries was also important and could benefit the two countries immensely, thereby “facilitating dialogue and conciliation”.

As seen in history, argued Mr Jabbar, no two countries had had as complex a relationship as Pakistan and India - that despite a huge degree of animosity and deadlock for such a long time there always had remained a chance to improve relations between the two countries. He said that since both countries were faced with enormous development and social challenges, neither could think of going to war.

Talking about the news media's inaccessibility in the neighbouring countries, Mr Jabbar said “Although India dominates the airwaves (film, music and other entertainments), yet we cannot access each other's news media.” This he attributed to insecurities prevalent on both sides. While being optimistic that survival for the two countries was possible, Mr Jabbar went on to add that dialogue should be on terms of equity and state equality, without which Pakistan would remain at a loss.

Prof Dr Moonis Ahmar, the chairman of the department of international relations, said he was confident that they had the capability to “undo the baggage of the past” by avoiding to repeat mistakes of the past. They could thus play a meaningful role in conflict management between the two countries.

He also highlighted the role of the intelligentsia, whose efforts had helped improve relations between the two countries.