New Delhi: Calling for promotion of peace and banishing of hostility in South Asia, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today (Dec 12, 2003) cited the increased people-to-people contact as a reflection of "intense desire for amity and goodwill".

Inaugurating a two-day conference on "Peace Dividend--Progress for India and South Asia" in New Delhi, he said the demands of globalisation and aspirations of people provided the basis for energetic pursuit of a "harmoniously integrated South Asia. People, businesses and organisations are waiting to interact more closely with each other."

They have waited for over half-a-century for fulfilment of "unexploited potential in their own neighbourhood" and were now impatient to move ahead, Vajpayee told a distinguished audience that included former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Union Ministers, envoys of several countries and others.

The Prime Minister said "we can sense this impatience in the outpouring of popular sentiment after our initiatives. The increased travel between India and Pakistan of Parliamentarians, businessmen, artists and sportsmen show the intense desire for amity and goodwill. We have to respond to this desire by seeking every possible way to banish hostility and promote peace".

The conference is organised by ‘Hindustan Times’ whose Vice-Chairperson and Editorial Director Shobhana Bhartia said that it was an effort to create greater understanding and to resolve conflicts in the South Asia region.

PTI