Date:21/01/2003 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/01/21/stories/2003012102801200.htm

National

Gujral for lifting visa curbs against Pak.

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI Jan. 20. Calling Pakistan a failed state, the former Prime Minister, Inder Kumar Gujral, today called on India to actively assist the forces of modernisation next door.

In a speech at the United Services Institution here, Mr. Gujral said that instead of shunning contact with the Pakistani people, India should showcase its own successes and achievements.

``Journalists, intellectuals and other thinking people'' in Pakistan, Mr. Gujral said, should be ``encouraged to visit India to see for themselves the progress in our economy and the vitality of our socio-cultural milieu''.

``I fail to see why we should impose strict visa restrictions on Pakistani visitors,'' Mr. Gujral said in a reference to the Government's decision to snap all contacts with Pakistan.

``Such visits will inevitably reinforce modernist forces in Pakistan,'' Mr. Gujral said. He criticised the outburst some time ago by the External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha, against Bangladesh for harbouring terrorists.

``The facts narrated by the Foreign Minister may be true, but hysterical outbursts do not manifest our strength.'' Pointing to the expanding bases of terrorism in the region, Mr. Gujral said: ``Quiet diplomacy and a helping hand is the need of the hour''.

Analysing the evolution of India's ``Look East'' policy and its prospects, Mr. Gujral said India could not achieve its larger objectives in Asia without first sorting out its problems within the subcontinent. ``It would be futile to project our interests further afield if we are unable to do so in our immediate neighbourhood where our concerns are more direct, proximate and tangible.''