Saarc a paper tiger, says Polish professor

LAHORE
Punjab University’s Pakistan Study Centre (PSC) organised a seminar “Pakistan-Indian Relations: The European Perspective” on Saturday in which University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw, Poland Professor Dr Agnieszka Kuszewska was the keynote speaker. According to a press release, Ms Dr Agnieszka Kuszewska highlighted the significant aspects of Pakistan-India relations from the European perspective and coined the idea of reconciliation through cultural exchange and people-to-people contact between the two countries for a lasting peace in the region of South Asia.
Sketching the comparison of the Saarc and European Union, she said the Saarc was a paper tiger as no real cooperation existed between the member countries.
Almost all the member countries of the European Union had high human development index as compared to the Saarccountries which were mired by poverty, she observed.
Dr Agnieszka Kuszewska also drew similarities between Indo-Pak nuclear rivalry and the US-Soviet cold war. She also threw light on the differences the Eastern and Western Europe saying that western block’s concerns were economic in nature whereas Eastern Europe’s matter revolved around the security issues. She stressed the need for building CBMs to promote peace and pacify the hawkish elements on both sides of the border. A question-answer session was held at the end of the talk while an MoU signing ceremony between University of the Punjab and University of Humanities and Social Sciences, Warsaw, Poland also took place after the seminar.