"You understand this reality we two (Pakistan and India) have to remove our problems by ourselves, otherwise the Western powers would come and we would loose our independence once again," the visiting former Indian foreign minister told a maiden formal press conference here at Mohatta Palace Museum.
Singh, who is on a literary tour to Pakistan on the invitation of Oxford University Press (OUP), is the author of Jinnah: India-Partition-Independence, a book that stirred strong outcry from what the author believes a small section of people with some hard-liners expressing their grudge through burning copies of the book in open.
"To me burning a book is like burning a child which really hurt me... a book should be reply though a book," the member of Lok Sabah lamented. 'Selfish' was the word Singh used while commenting on the role of the US in Indo-Pak peace process. "A new sort of colonialism I see as a potential threat if South Asia does not stand to gather," he warned.
The Indian politician not only wonders, but also questions the outreach of the Nato beyond its politico-strategic limits of the North Atlantic Ocean to Himalaya, viz. Afghanistan. "I do not think America or Nato can give us a lesson that we don't know," he said.
The Indian lawmaker sets King Zahir Shah as an example when it comes to establishing peace in the war-ravaged Afghanistan advising some of his "American friends" that: "Try what King Zahir Shah had done to get the warring Afghan tribes together."
He expressed his amazement about the presence of Nato troops in the volatile country which the Indian analyst believes could be occupied but never conquered. "If Afghanistan can not be conquered then why Nato is there," he asked. Singh also wonders how a country like the United States, which had used the nuclear bomb twice, could lead the world on the issue of non-proliferation at the Nuclear Summit.
Later, after delivering his lecture on Culture, Politics and Change in South Asia, Singh told a questioner that the partition of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh was unique in nature and may not be addressed emulating the experiences of Western countries. "In India, Pakistan and Bangladesh our past has become the present and unless we get rid of the shadows and traps of the history, peace would continue to remain absent."
Dwelling on possibility of a lasting peace in the region, the former BJP leader proposes dialogue, a forward-looking approach and an expanded 'constituency of peace', encompassing the governments, civil societies and the media both in Pakistan and India to bring the two neighbours closer. According to him, nothing but best and cordial relations could help the two nuclear-armed countries achieve peace and tranquillity that would eventuate into prosperity which would positively reflect on the poverty-stricken people of the two nation states.
Commenting on marriage of Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik with Indian tennis star Sania Mirza, the Indian parliamentarian said Islamabad and New Delhi should also see the plight of those lacs of couples who after such cross-border marriages were tantalising to meet each other due to visa restrictions. "Pre-1965 situation should be restored through demolition of the Berlin Wall with the power of people's voice," he said.
Then foreign minister, Singh recalled that New Delhi's offer for a category-based issuance of visas had fallen on deaf ears in Islamabad then ruled by Musharraf regime. Terming terrorism a common problem, Singh said the two countries must take the dialogue and war against terrorism side by side uninterrupted. "Terrorist forces are in both the countries and civil society and the governments together should work against terrorism."
Asked if he sees possibility for a South Asian Union like the European one, Singh said he wished the days could be counted in years in that direction. "We would have to learn to live together again... we had better forget about the past," he suggested.
Sharing with the audience some 'philosophical underpinnings' for the emergence of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh as independent states, the Indian guest referred to the demise of Mesopotamian Empire, Ottoman Empire and finally the Soviet Empire, saying that the three countries were lying at the 'crossroad of a collapsed empire', namely the British Empire. "The partition of India was the most traumatic event and it continues to haunt us in Pakistan as well as in India even today."
Earlier, Nasreen Askari, Director Mohatta Palace Museum, welcomed the guests followed by introductory remarks of OUP's managing director, Ameena Saiyid, who lauded Singh for bearing the brunt of being honest in throwing light on the life of Pakistan's founding father Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Hameed Haroon, Managing Trustee of Mohatta Palace Museum, acted as a facilitator during the two events, the press conference and the lecture.