Development of Pakistan & China,J&K has its direct impact on the peace & development contours:Omar

Jammu, December 14 (Vijay Kumar) –J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said that the people in Jammu and Kashmir are all the more live to the development of foreign policy especially vis-à-vis Pakistan and China as the state has its direct impact on the peace and development contours.

Delivering the inaugural lecture at 3-day International Conference on ‘Policy, People and Peace-democratization of foreign policy in Parliamentary Democracy: Canada, India and beyond’ at Jammu University here,  Omar, who is also the Pro-Chancellor of the Varsity, said that democratization of Indian foreign policy is gaining ground with the growth and development of modern India.

Omar Abdullah said that in present day India public perception and common mass mood has greater impact on the formation of foreign policy. “Gone are the days when foreign policy was framed in the South Block in isolation. Now a days we observe direct impact of the peoples’ opinion on foreign policy formulation”, he said. . Omar identified three important ingredients of ‘strong democratic institutions, spread of education and growth of media’ as major aspects for democratization of foreign policy in India. He said presently we observe that Indian people are proactive in reacting and expressing their views on the international issues bearing direct and indirect impact on the country.

“Our democratic institutions, intelligentsia and media actively and openly dwelt on issues like Nuclear Deal, Copenhagen Conference, Environment policy etc. having impact on India. The pros and cons of the foreign pacts and agreements are being extensively deliberated upon in various forums, conference and media. This influences foreign policy framing and helps democratizing foreign policy. The threadbare debates in the Parliament on foreign pacts and issues and the candid views of Members all the more influence the democratization of Indian foreign Policy”, he maintained and said that it is not surprising that foreign issues are becoming a part of regular main stream politics in the country.

 He appreciating the University for holding the international conference hoped that original insight having direct bearing on foreign policy will emerge from this Conference. He also wished success for the Conference.

Speaking on the occasion, the Vice Chancellor of Jammu University, Prof. Varun Sahni said that the nineteen importance aspects of Indian characteristics attribute to the world affairs and specify the Indian national interests. He identified these as, India as a large country, an emerging power, a regional power, an Asian power, a nuclear weapon state, a country with disputed borders, an arms buyer, a target of terrorism, a developing economy, a globalizing economy, a technology driven economy, an energy deficient economy, a liberal democracy, a multi-cultural society, an ancient civilization, a divided and a violent society, a diaspora community and a concern for common.

The Counsellor, Political and Economic Affairs of Canadian High Commission in India, Ms. Julia Bentley, Director, Centre for New Literatures, Culture and Communication, Prof. Posh Charak, Head, Department of Political Science, Prof. Kulwant Kour, Academic Advisor, Prof. Chandra Mohan also spoke on the occasion. The Dean Academic Affairs, University of Jammu.  N. A. Ganai presented vote of thanks.

The 3-day Conference has been organized by the Centre of New Literatures, Culture and Communication and Department of Political Science of University of Jammu in collaboration with Canadian High Commission. Besides the Academicians and reputed educationists representing various Universities and educational institutions of the country, foreign delegates from the Universities from Canada, Australia, America and South Africa are participating in the Conference.

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