August 11; High Commissioner of India to Pakistan, H.E. Dr. T. C. A. Raghavan, shared his views on Mutual Learning on Governance and Development between Pakistan and India at the PILDAT Forum today.

Dr. Raghavan lauded the efforts of PILDAT in the past in the facilitation of the Parliamentarian Dialogues between Pakistan and India from 2004 till 2014.

He felt each country had excelled in different areas and hence could benefit from knowledge sharing. Praising construction and management of Motorway in Pakistan, Dr. Raghavan said that both countries had areas to learn from each other. The proactive use of RTI Law, eradication of Polio, and arid agriculture for instance, constituted good examples in India.

Dr. Raghavan also believed that each country can look at and learn from good practices governance in the shortest possible time. Though he pointed out that for this to materialize the environment needed to be conducive and there needed to be a lot of investment in the areas by the governments of both Pakistan and India. In the current context Dr. Raghavan felt for the growth of both countries, it was pertinent for Pakistan and India to increase structured interaction on issues of governance.

While explaining the best practices adopted by countries Dr. Raghavan spoke about the model example of Singapore. He highlighted how the government of Singapore had concentrated its efforts on the improvement of one particular area at a particular time.

Dr. Raghavan also felt that the process of change could not happen in isolation as the civil society and its pressure on the government was required for the materialization and implementation of change. One example that he gave in regards to the importance of the Civil Society Organizations (CSO) in the development of the governance structure in India was the involvement of the CSO�s in the success of Project Tiger, a programme for the conservation of the tigers of India.

When identifying the channels, which might lead to better governance structures, he highlighted the importance of the development of technology and the globalization of the world, which made knowledge sharing between India and Pakistan and most other countries accessible. To him the best approach for any country when considering the development in governance was to look at model examples and tailor them to their own country.

Guests on the occasion raised questions relating to the scenario of bilateral relations, Kashmir issue, the tenacity of the Indus Water Treaty, Indian position on the Pakistan-China Economic Corridor, the relationship between civil service and Government in India.

The Luncheon Address was attended by members of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab including Ms. Nabila Hakim Ali, Mr. Viqas Hassan Moakkal, and Dr. Murad Raas. Other prominent attendees included Mr. S. M. Zafar, former Senator and Senior Advocate, Supreme Court and Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Moinuddin Haider, Former Governor, Sindh and former Federal Minister for Interior, Ambassador (Retd.) Shahid Malik, Former High Commissioner of the Pakistan to India, Mr. Tasneem Noorani, Former Federal Secretary for Interior, Mr. Imtiaz Alam, Senior Journalist and General Secretary, South Asian Free Media Association, Mr. Mujeeb-ur-Rehman Shami, Editor-in-Chief, Daily Pakistan, Mr. Fakir Syed Aijazuddin, OBE, FCA; Mr. Iftikhar Ahmad, Senior Journalist, and senior members of the academia and the civil society.