Saturday, October 15 2005 20:41 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Governments of India and Pakistan needed to build a lot more mutual trust and respect for mutual sensibilities and sensitivities to ensure that relief and rehabilitation of quake victims was better than any other part of the world, former Prime Minister V P Singh said today (Oct 15, 2005).

"I only wish that our composite dialogue should have proceeded at a faster pace. Let us not slow down our pace on the CBMs," Singh said here in a statement.

He also appealed to all shades of political opinion not to indulge in one-upmanship and pool their resources and coordinate all their efforts.

Terming the efforts of citizens' groups acting in mobilizing support for quake victims in both the countries as "commendable", the former Prime Minister said "nature has reminded us the hard fact of the whole planet being one family and more so in case of people in India and Pakistan."

He said people's initiatives had special significance in the case of Kashmir "as there is a harsh fact of alienation of some sections of people. To ensure that the victims of nature's fury judge us generously and positively, we need to do as much as we can."

Praising the work done by states, especially the armed forces as being very crucial and strategic, Singh said "I must say that our armed forces and para-military forces, true to their glorious record in this respect, have done well so far."

"Material support, though very pre-requisite of any rescue, relief work requires that we simultaneously communicate our emotional and spiritual oneness with the victims," Singh said, adding "I am happy that we are fast responding to this great need of collective social-psychological therapy."