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Arms race expensive for subcontinent, say scholars

Scholars from Pakistan and India brainstormed for two days, seeking ways to build trust between the two countries.

''We gathered here to find ways to ease tension, discourage the nuclear arms race and to resolve long-standing problems, including the core Kashmir issue,'' said Nishat Ahmad, chairman of the Pakistan Institute of Regional Studies Ahmad at the end of the conference.

Among the items on the agenda was the signing of a no-war pact between the two nations and a reduction in missile production. "The situation has become critical following the nuclear tests in May,'' Ahmad said.

The conference follows a meeting earlier this month between senior government officials of both countries -- the first talks between the two countries in more than one year and the first time the two countries openly discussed their nuclear programmes.

Until the May explosions both countries maintained a policy of ambiguity, neither denying or admitting they possessed nuclear weapons.

''We are doomed to carry this baggage into the next century, but we can try to lighten our weight as we enter it,'' said Bhabani Sen Gupta, an Indian writer. ''In both countries, military and nuclear security is seen in absolute terms... But sooner or later they have to find solution of their problems.''

Former vice-chancellor of Karachi University Manzoor Ahmed said participants at the workshop agreed that the cost of owning nuclear weapons as a deterrent was too high. ''It will hit their economies and development in the social sector,'' he said.

Participants at the conference acknowledged the difficulty of solving the Kashmir dispute, a complex issue that could create problems for any government that offers concessions.

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