NEW DELHI, NOV 8: India and Pakistan need to resume dialogue at the political and military level to reduce the high level of mistrust between, Major General (Retd) Mahmud Ali Durrani said today.He said that the existing level of interaction - at the Director General of Military Operations level - was not successful and ``should be raised to the Indian Vice Chief of Army Staff and Pakistani chief of General Staff level.''Delivering a talk on ``India and Pakistan: The Costs of Conflict and the Benefits of Peace,'' the General, who was the chief executive of Pakistan Ordnance Factories Board till 1998, said that secretary and bureaucrat/ diplomat level talks can seldom be successful as ``babus do not take bold decisions, look over their shoulder for directions and only speak the lines dictated to them''.Asked why had the Lahore process been nixed even though it had the highest political authority's initiative, Durrani said: ``Don't ask me that.'' However, he insisted that dialogue was the only way forward from this point and spoke of re-engagement and revival of a ``Lahore-type process''.``Before I came here I met General Pervez Musharraf and it may be hard to believe but even he wants peace,'' he said. Durrani, who earlier also served as the military secretary to General Zia-ul-Haq, had also commanded the First Armoured Division. While still a serving general, he had joined the BALUSA group of senior Indians and Pakistanis ``working toward a better future.''In reply to another question, he said that majority of the Pakistan Army too wanted peace. ``The methodology may differ but they (the Pakistan Army) know that India is five times bigger and so is its GDP. If not for the love of India but for the love of Pakistan they want peace,'' he said reiterating that the level of mistrust could lead to a nuclear mishap.``The nuclear threat is there. The level of mistrust is so high that Pakistan does not believe India on its no first use declaration,'' he said. Durrani said that Kargil had shown the fragility of nuclear deterrence and suggested ways to break the logjam, including a sustained ministerial level interaction with regular meetings to sort out the issue.Speaking on the benefits of peace, he said that this would lower the expenditure on defence and the same money could be diverted to development. For growth of economy and social structures like schools and medical institutions. ``Together, India and Pakistan could be a power to reckon with and form a regional block, work in the energy field and increase trade,'' he said.Durrani pointed that the official trade between India and Pakistan was minimal. ``Just about $ 100 million but the unofficial trade either through smuggling or import of Indian goods through some third country is (worth) over $ 1.5 billion. Both India and Pakistan stand to benefit,'' he added. His study speaks of improving the investment climate which is very poor in Pakistan, he conceded.People-to-people interaction, exchange of newspapers and periodicals and institutionalised engagement at the politico-military level is required, he insisted. ``Some people even in Pakistan say that the Pakistan Army wants war or tension to remain powerful within the state but I do not think that is true,'' he said.
