Media spoils India-Pakistan ties: Kuldip Nayar

Tuesday March 29, 2011 06:40:13 PM, IANS

New Delhi: As Indian and Pakistani prime ministers prepare to meet at Mohali Wednesday, veteran journalist Kuldip Nayar has sounded a word of caution: watch against "spoiler" media.

"The leadership (of the two countries) should look at each other, look at their own commitments and avoid media. Media is a spoiler on the both sides. They have no knowledge of history and they sensationalise everything," Nayar, who just returned from Pakistan after a 10-day trip, told IANS.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistani premier Yousaf Raza Gilani will meet during the 2011 Cricket World Cup semifinal between the two countries at Mohali.

Nayar said people of the two countries are yearning for peace.

"I have just come from Pakistan and I found, as always I do, people there want to have normal relations with India. And so do the people here," Nayar, also a former high commissioner to Britain, said.

Praising Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his keenness in improving the ties with Pakistan, Nayar said: "It augurs well for both the countries that the PM is taking so much personal interest."

He said it was "encouraging and very good" that the two countries have decided to resume the peace process stalled after 10 Pakistani terrorists unleashed mayhem in Mumbai in November 2008 and killed 166 people, including foreigners.

In Pakistan, he said, "We found people there very positive (about the peace process). There was a visible happiness."

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