Journey of hope

The camaraderie between Vajpayee and Musharraf during the Saarc summit in the first week of the year indicated real progress towards improving bilateral ties, now the train of hope establishes it in reality. It also augurs well for the region. For now Saarc can aspire to become a force to be reckoned with; an effective body for development, progress and prosperity for the region. Thanks to the unresolved conflicts between India and Pakistan, the organisation, no matter how much it tried, could not tap its potential to the full. At least now things are moving in the right direction.

So far, it's been only the positive vibes we have been getting from the two nations regarding improvement of mutual respect. The efforts, for a lasting peace, we hope will produce more results in the near future. Though there has been, especially in Pakistan, discord in the political arena on the issue of Kashmir being 'sidelined', but such negativity can't be allowed to impose any kind of barriers in the process of renewing friendship. Both the countries have shown their own initiatives in solving the impasse that had dogged the security of the region for far too long. And we must appreciate and support it. The world community has seen rays of hope, the region can't disappoint them, neither can the countries in question break the hearts of millions of people of South Asia who had been eagerly looking forward to security, peace and prosperity.

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