We, who are committed to help achieve the aspirations of the common peoples of
Pakistan and India, urge our respective governments to exercise
restraint in the
current surcharged atmosphere. The entire world is anxious that there should be
no war between the two countries of Pakistan and India that need, instead, to
work hard on economic development and cultural enrichment with a view to
improving the lot of the majority of their peoples.

As of now, the threat of war from miscalculation or accident is quite serious.
Regrettably there has been a deliberately cultivated war hysteria in both
countries. Should a war break out, for whatever reason, it runs the grave risk
of escalating to the level of nuclear exchanges.

We assert that no cause is worth fighting with nuclear weapons. Though both
governments have painted themselves into a corner through their belligerent
posturing, they must nevertheless beat a political retreat. Justice and sanity
demand nothing less. Neither government should offer gratuitous provocation
or insult to the other. In the face of stark danger of a possible
nuclear war, it is of
utmost importance that the armed forces of both sides simultaneously move
back to their peacetime stations.

Resolving the basic disputes between the two countries is necessary and will
take time. But the immediate prerequisite is the return of normalcy and
resumption of dialogue, not only between politicians or bureaucrats but even
more importantly, between the concerned citizens of the two countries who
must be free to meet and communicate with each other whenever they wish.
Therefore, it is of utmost importance that along with the mutual disengagement
of the two armed forces, the recent extraordinary restrictions on means
of communications that prevent people-to-people dialogue and cultural exchanges
from taking place, be removed. Indeed, they should be promoted through easing
of visa regimes.

We urge the two governments to take all necessary steps to achieve this
disengagement of armed forces and restore normal relations
and appeal to the international community to support this process. Politics in
both countries must be de-militarised as much as possible. It must be
redirected,
first and foremost, towards fulfilling the human needs and aspirations of the
citizens of our two countries. There must be no support to terrorism, direct or
indirect.

We oppose it in all forms whether cross-border or within our countries, whether
carried out by individuals, groups or governments.
We declare our common commitment to promote secularism, democracy,
justice and peaceful co-existence.

Signatories from India: Tapan Kumar Bose, Admiral R. Ramdas, Achin Vanaik,
Latha Jishnu, K.S. Subramanian, Joseph Gathia, Syeda Hameed, Prakash Louis,
Vijayan M.J. Ranjana Padhi, Vineeta Bal, Jawed Laiq, Suneeta Madhu Prasad,
Gautam Navlakha, Sagri Chhabra

Signatories from Pakistan: I.A. Rehman, M.B. Naqvi, B.M.Kutty, Dr.
Haroon Ahmed,
Karamat Ali, M. H. Askri, Rahat Saeed, Zaheda Hina, Anis Haroon, Naseem Gandhi,
Shahid Fiaz, Omar Farooq, Saleem Raza, Baseer Naveed, Aqeel
Billgrami, Iqbal Alvi,
Zameer Niazi, Brig. Abid Rao, Dr. Tariq Suhail, Dr. Zaki Hassan,
Tahir Mohammad Khan,
Gul Rehman