Let youth interact for peace, say Pakistani school kids

India and Pakistan can live in peace only if the youth from both the countries get more opportunities to interact with each other, a group of school students from the two countries said Monday.

The group of 23 students from 10 Pakistani schools is in the capital to participate in the "students exchange for change programme". The event is organised at the Tagore International School by Indian NGO 'Routes2Roots' and Citizens Archive of Pakistan (CAP), a Pakistan based NGO.

Selected students from both the countries interacted with one another through letters, post-cards and various other modes of communication for an year and now have met personally.

A group of Indian students visited Pakistan in the first week of September. "If you ask me, there is no difference between the two countries - it's just the politicians who have created a wall between us," 16-year-old Tanya Bhardwaj, a student of Tagore International School, told IANS after meeting Pakistani students.

"I think our generation can make a difference if we interact with each other more often," said a teenager who has already added her new found friends from the neighbouring country to her account on a social networking site.

Agreed 14-year-old Fatima from Karachi's Mama Parsi Girls High School, who stressed that people from both the countries shared the same culture.

"Our culture is same and the only thing dividing us is a border. I've had a delighted stay here and the warmth of the locals felt like I was back home," said Fatima, who was on her second visit to India.

According to Tina Vachani, founder of Routes2Roots, the programme will help in clearing apprehensions among students and bring them close to one another.

"Youth interactions and direct communications will in time lead to a more informed and fundamental understanding of each other," she said.

IANS