India and Pakistan have to follow the path of peace : Shahbaz Sharif

Lahore:  Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif has said that he is leaving India with many hopes and expectations and he is confident that his visit would pave the way for cooperation between India and Punjab in energy, agriculture, livestock and other sectors.

He was talking to Indian media before his departure for Pakistan, today. The Chief Minister said that the basic purpose of his visit to India was to benefit from the experience of India in the sector of power generation and acquire its cooperation, therefore, he visited several coal and solar energy power generation plants in various Indian cities. He said there is no doubt that India has made extraordinary progress in energy sector and has abundant electivity and there is no reason why Pakistan should not benefit from the experience of India to rid its people of load-shedding. Similarly, he said, Pakistan should import such agricultural machinery from India instead of overseas countries as is not produced in Pakistan.

The Chief Minister said that during his visit he met Indian Prime Minister as well as Commerce Minister and delivered a message of peace and goodwill from the Prime Minister of Pakistan and it is hoped that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would soon visit Pakistan. He said that though Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has some reservations but he was assured by him that Pakistan is ready to remove all his doubts as Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has already made an offer of independent investigation by a third party into the incidents at the Line of Control. He said that India should accept this offer so that facts could be brought to light.

Shahbaz Sharif said he also made it clear to Indian leadership that India and Pakistan have no other option except to follow the path of peace but it does not mean that issues like Kashmir, Siachin and Sir Creek should be disregarded. A lasting peace could not be guaranteed in the region without addressing these issues, he added.

Replying to a question about his meeting with Indian Commerce Minister, Shahbaz Sharif said that Secretaries Commerce of both India and Pakistan would soon meet in Delhi or Islamabad. In response to another question, the Chief Minister said that promotion of Pak-India ties would benefit both the countries as industry would flourish, job opportunities would be available to the common man, trade would be expanded, living standard of the people would improve while an era of progress and prosperity would usher in the region. Earlier, the Chief Minister visited power plants based on coal and biomass in various cities of Indian Punjab. Provincial Education Minister Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan also accompanied him.