Prakash Karat, speaking in the Conference...discusses the challenges before theft in South Asia in promoting peace and a development agenda for the people. He also speaks on the need for the Left in India to take the initiative to bring together the Left in South Asia.

Parvez Hoodbhoy, the well-known physicist and peace activist from Pakistan argues that while physically, things might have improved as less attacks are taking place today from the militants, there is an accommodation by the Pakistani state of terror outfits and the militants. Once again, Pakistan's strategic needs -- in Afghanistan and elsewhere -- may be taking precedence over its domestic impreatives. The victims will be the minorities in Pakistan, not only Christians, Ahmediayas, Hindus, but also  the Shias, who number 20-30% of Pakistan's population.

Pakistani lawmaker and Senior PPP leader traces the ways in which hostility between India and Pakistan has been sharpened – from elusive visas and bureaucratic hurdles to dangerous nukes piling up on both sides of the border. Given this situation, what are some positive, two-way strategies to shape a safer subcontinent?

Perhaps for the first time since 1947, there is the real possibility of restructuring Indo Pak relations, says Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar. The neighbours see that an end to confrontation will mean valuable benefits to both. In Pakistan, there is recognition that confrontation with India only aggravates its internal problems; in India, there is recognition that confrontation with Pakistan is a threat to secularism, the core which holds the nation together. This is an exceptional moment in history, a moment that must be seized.