Deregulate markets: Benazir

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, NOV. 26. The former Pakistan Prime Minister, Ms. Benazir Bhutto, today urged greater convergence between India and Pakistan on issues such as trade especially at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), despite the gulf between them on other issues. ``The gulfs on some issues should not preclude convergence on others such as trade,'' she said.

Ms. Bhutto was addressing the captains of trade and industry at an event organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). She spoke on ``Social Development and Women's Empowerment'' on the second day of what is being described as a ``personal visit'' to this country.

Highlighting her policy differences with the present military regime in Pakistan, she said, ``this is a world where economic interests drive nation states into new political alignments.'' It was thus a time for the South Asian countries to reduce tension, acknowledging there were disputes, ``to focus on meeting parallel challenges''.

Describing herself as an advocate of deregulation, she said it led to unleashing the ``creative power of the people''. Both India and Pakistan needed to deregulate since the markets were going to determine not just economic policies but political stances in future.

As for the WTO emerging as the key structure of the new millennium, she said the South Asian countries were yet to hold meaningful discussions on how they should approach the different issues raised at this important forum.

``The WTO will fashion the economics of the next half century,'' she said. There was thus need to tackle areas of convergence instead of focussing on areas of conflict between India and Pakistan, she said.

Women's empowerment

She said economic empowerment lay less in laws and more in economic independence. Relating this to the Pakistan scenario, she said dependent, women like dependent nations, were not free to take the decisions they liked to take.

She was reminded about this when Pakistan's military regime justified joining the international coalition against terror on the grounds of survival. ``The military regime said it feared that its nuclear assets and other strategic concerns could be endangered if it failed to join up,'' she said.

Ms. Bhutto spoke at length on globalisation and the need for the South Asian countries to jointly study the impact on developing countries. ``Globalisation is restructuring the planet's economic and political arrangements directly affecting humanity on a scale not witnessed since the Industrial Revolution,'' she said. Despite these tremendous changes, she noted that India and Pakistan which had the largest populations had the most feeble voices. It could be otherwise if these countries realised their potential and wrested the control of their destinies into their hands.

Underlining the need for responding to the global changes, she said, ``This is a world where gender and markets determine the power of a backward or forward nation.''

She expressed concern over the rising disparities between the rich and poor as well as over reports of decline in real per capita incomes in the last 35 years.

She pointed out that the countries that prospered lived in peace while those that suffered were caught in conflict. ``Poverty is inextricably linked to armed conflict,'' she said.

Ms. Bhutto linked women's rights to human rights and described herself as a victim as well as someone who has had an opportunity to address this issue in her own country.

Referring to the attacks against her and her husband, she said the battle with traditionalists had dogged her political career. She stressed that the discrimination against women had less to do with Islam and more to do with custom and tradition.

The hall was packed to capacity with corporate leaders and their spouses, students and NGOs, apart from the media which was out in full force.

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