Road link to C Asia optimum requirement for cooperation:Ansari

Terming lack of road connectivity between South and Central Asian countries as a handicap and a "mountain not easy to surmount", Vice-President Hamid Ansari today said efforts were on to overcome it to ensure genuine cooperation in the region.
"Connectivity that exists on historical plane and cultural plane is very obvious. Our handicap is that we have mountains in between which are not easy to surmount. But we are working on it. The time will come when that problem will get resolved," he said referring to poor surface connectivity among South Asian countries, Afghanistan and Central Asian nations.
Ansari was talking to reporters while returning from a four-day visit to Uzbekistan.

When asked to explain the "mountain" he was referring to, the Vice-President said the mountain is the political obstacles "which come in the way".
"...(it) is really the optimum requirement of genuine South Asian cooperation...Everybody understands it, but people have difficulty in implementing it," he said.
Referring to the suggestion of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of having "breakfast in Amritsar, lunch in Islamabad and dinner in Kabul" once the road network comes up, Ansari said road connectivity will facilitate free movement between India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the central Asian countries.

"The distances are not great," he said.
He said during his talks with Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov, the issue of Indian trade investments came up. Ansari said President Karimov pointed that despite enormous trade potential not much of Indian business is making its presence felt in Uzbekistan.

The Vice-President said connectivity was a major issue and longer routes taken to send commodities to Tashkent meant higher freight.
During his talks with Karimov, the two also agreed that any outside interference in Afghanistan could prove to be counter-productive and stressed the need to support a people-led political process against the backdrop of withdrawal of US-led forces from the war-torn country.
The discussion between Vice-President Hamid Ansari and Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov also revolved around cooperation in the field of counter-terrorism and improving bilateral relations.
Uzbekistan was willing to export its natural resources, including oil and gas to India.

Besides, tourism and pharmaceuticals are other sectors where the two countries can expand their bilateral trade.