— Photo: PTI

Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Opposition leader in Pakistan, and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in Shimla on Sunday.

Shimla: External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday said there should be regular interactions among parliamentarians, journalists and civil society from SAARC countries as they truly represented public opinion.

Speaking at the two-day conference organised by the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) here, he said such meetings provided an opportunity for informal discussions among SAARC countries without any official restrictions.

Mr. Mukherjee said India had started work on the establishment of the South Asian University. "We propose to set up a Project Office for the university in New Delhi and appoint an interim CEO assisted by a team of academics or experts from the region."Earlier, at the conference, objections raised by MPs from India over the formulations on Jammu and Kashmir in the draft `Shimla Declaration,' to be adopted by parliamentarians from SAARC countries, led to the postponement of its adoption. Trinamool Congress MP Dineshbhai Trivedi was on his feet as soon as Imtiaz Alam, Secretary-General of SAFMA, read out the text of the draft declaration and asked the meeting if there were any objections. Referring to para eight of the declaration, Mr. Trivedi said he did not agree to the formulation that a solution to the Kashmir issue, agreeable to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, India and Pakistan should be found. He said Jammu and Kashmir was an integral part of India and it was only an issue between India and Pakistan.

Leader of the Opposition in the Pakistan National Assembly Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that since there were differences on the formulation, the issue could be revisited by the parliamentarians.

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