Former Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri and the prominent Indian journalist and peace activist Ashis Ray emphasized the pressing need for dialogue and improved relations between Pakistan and India during a high -profile event held in Lahore Thursday

The event participating in leading media personalities, retired civilian and military officials, academics and civil society members emphasized the challenges and opportunities to promote peace between the two nuclear armed neighbors.

Kasuri, who served as Pakistan’s Foreign Minister from 2002 to 2007, opened the session by reflecting on the violent story of the connections on the Pakistan India. He noted that although the relationship has seen both heights and low, the current situation is one of the worst in history, blocking times of actual war.

He attributed this fall to rising nationalist rhetoric in India, which has been used to polarize voters through anti-Muslim, anti-Pakistan and anti-Bangladesh feelings.

However, Kasuri remained optimistic and remembered earlier cases where the connections were unexpected, such as former President Perez Musharraf’s warm reception in New Delhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise visit to Lahore in 2015. “Dialogue, dialogue, dialogue is the only way that is ahead,” Kasuri claimed, emphasized that Pakistan and India cannot have at the Way.

He warned that terrorism poses an equal threat to both countries and could undermine any diplomatic progress.

Kasuri also highlighted the importance of solving the Jammu and Kashmir tvis and referred to four-point formula (actually extensive 11-12 points), which was almost agreed during the peace process 2004-2008.

Ashis Ray, a London-based journalist, author and grandson of Indian Freedom Fighter Subhas Chandra Bose, spoke a London-based journalist, author and grandson of Indian Freedom Fighter Subhas Chandra Bose. Ray, who has written “The trial that shook Britain,” a book on the red Fort trials with Indian national army soldiers in 1945-46, emphasized the shared history and cultural ties between the two nations.

He suggested a three-point plan to promote people-to-people connections. This includes utilization of technology to bring together artists, filmmakers and musicians from both countries; To allow Pakistani cricketers to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Indian cricketers to participate in Pakistan’s Super League (PSL) and encourage joint ventures in neutral places whose direct exchanges are not possible.

Ray also highlighted the economic potential of improved connections with reference to a 2023 World Bank survey that found 85% of Pakistan’s unrealized trade potential lies with India. “If trade can benefit both countries, why haven’t we grabbed the opportunity?” He asked.