India not a threat to neighbours, says Saran

NEW DELHI—Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran on Saturday said economically flourishing India is a "great opportunity" and not a threat to neighbours.
India has proposed launch of cross-LoC bus services between Kargil (IOK)and Skardu in AJK and Jammu and Sialkot and suggested opening of another border trading point with China at Gumla, he said delivering a talk on the topic: 'Does India have a neighbourhood policy?'
New Delhi is also working on upgradation of infrastructure like roads on border points with neighbouring countries which includes setting up of integrated check points, he said.
Saran, however, said the success of such measures to integrate countries of the region depends on the "comfort" level of other countries. "India has been growing economically during the last 15 years.
It offers a great opportunity to neighbours, not a threat," Saran said.
"The prospects are immense. The question is if there is political will to grasp this opportunity," he said and underlined that India, being larger that other neighbours, is willing to do all it can to ensure that all countries of the region gain.
He said the people-to-people contacts, launched two years ago, have been successful. About two lakh people from both countries have visited the other country by the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad, Lahore-Amritsar and Amritsar-Nankana Sahib bus services since these opened last year.
He said India has plans to upgrade the check point at Wagah to make it an integrated one with all facilities, including health care. The road upto Wagah border is also being upgraded.
"We don't have any barriers. Our motto is: we should be willing to go as far as our neighbour is comfortable," he said.
"We need to deal with the neighbours with confidence. We need to get away from the defensive mindset," the Foreign Secretary said, adding India had a lot to offer.
Saran said while India was willing to meet expectations of the neighbours, the barrier in this regard was the comfort level of the other countries.—Agencies