India, Pakistan students want peace

Leaders of India and Pakistan should immediately hold a dialogue with peace-building measures as their top priority, a group of visiting school students from Pakistan said Saturday.

The students are in the capital to participate in the Indian Model United Nations, organised by Ryan International Group of Schools.

Class 8-12 students from both the countries debated and discussed ways to find "peace and progress". The two-day event ended here Saturday.

"Both the governments need to get serious about solving their differences. Building peace with each other should be on top of their minds," Syed Mansoor Qutab, a Class 11 student of City School, Lahore, told IANS.

"They need to sit down and only talk about finding solutions to the problems, not discuss any other matter," he added.

There has been tension between the two nations following the killing of five Indian soldiers, ambushed by Pakistani troops on the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir Aug 6.

Stressing that both the countries have the same culture, Zainab Tayyeb, a Class 9 student from the Lahore school, said she was saddened by the current state of affairs.

"We are the same people with the same culture, just divided into two parts," she said.

According to Ryan International Group of Institutions managing director Grace Pinto, the annual event aimed at empowering the youth of today to become better global citizens of tomorrow.

"We hope that by the end of the current session, there will be new insights offered by our youth to the problems faced by the world," she said.

The Pakistani students celebrated Eid Friday away from their homes and said they had fallen in love with the warmth and hospitality of the people here.

"We watched 'Chennai Express' film yesterday (Friday) and then relished 'mughlai' meal at Dilli Haat," said Tayyeb, adding that the food was less spicy than what they get in Lahore.

"We are planning to visit Jama Masjid the day after tomorrow (Monday) to get the real taste of Delhi food," she said.