ISLAMABAD: Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan TCA Raghavan said on Friday his country was striving to establish mutually beneficial relations with all developed as well as developing countries as the shared destiny of South Asian nations requires measures for regional integration.

Speaking at a lecture on ‘Trends in India-Pakistan Relations’ at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Pakistan, Raghavan said there was a need for a process-based approach to take the agenda of India-Pakistan relations forward in a positive way.

Raghavan said positive developments had occurred at a higher frequency over the last few years with regards to India-Pakistan dialogue and engagement.

However, one should also qualify that despite certain setbacks state-level engagement has continued throughout the shared history of the two countries in the post-partition period leading to a number of agreements and treaties.

The modern age marked by globalisation has led to avenues that can help in improving India-Pakistan relations.

The agenda for easier mobility of people, capital and trade can go a long way in preventing conflicts between India and Pakistan.

Raghavan said it was also important to dispel the notion that positive developments occurred historically had not been significant in improving the relations between India and Pakistan.

The Ambassador appreciated the positive changes in Pakistan over the last decade, such as growth of media and strengthening of institutions that could help in fostering democratic norms in Pakistan.

New trends have started to emerge in the global arena. These new trends, which include the rise of interaction through popular social media, cyber threats from an increasingly connected web-world and rising global demand for energy and play an important role in foreign policy making the world over today.

Raghavan acknowledged the need for increased people-to-people interaction between India and Pakistan. Even though the visa regime remains cumbersome, it has become far more relaxed over the last few years—APP