Most Pakistanis view India as an enemy and 47 per cent feel that Indian Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee?s recent peace initiative is a gimmick, according to an opinion poll. The poll published in the Indian newsweekly Outlook, which hit the stands yesterday, showed 79 per cent of people in Pakistan felt the Kashmir issue needed to resolved for better ties between the two nuclear-capable neighbours.

The survey was conducted by Gallup-Business Research Bureau, a Pakistan affiliate of Gallup International and polled 1,338 people on August 3 and 4 in all four provinces of Pakistan. The poll showed 54 per cent saw India as an enemy. India and Pakistan both claim Kashmir but in recent months have taken steps to improve relations, raising prospects for peace in the Himalayan region at the heart of more than half a century of tension between the two countries.

On Friday Vajpayee called on Pakistan to walk the road of peace but said Islamabad must end what he called cross-border terrorism. Last year the nuclear rivals came close to waging their fourth war since independence from Britain in 1947 after an attack on the Indian Parliament that New Delhi blamed on Pakistani militants fighting its rule in disputed Kashmir.

Bilateral trade

The two countries restored diplomatic ties and bus links after Vajpayee vowed in April to make a final bid for peace. About 69 per cent of Pakistanis felt the conversion of the 740-km line of control that divides Kashmir between the two neighbours into the international border would not solve the Kashmir problem. Authorities say about 38,000 people have been killed in Kashmir since the insurgency began in 1989. India controls 45 per cent of Kashmir, Pakistan just over a third and China the rest.

India accuses Pakistan of arming, training and sending militants into Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan denies the charge but says it provides moral, diplomatic and political support to what it calls Kashmiri freedom fighters.

Sixty-two per cent of Pakistanis said they would not trust the United States to broker peace between the two countries while 32 per cent approved of Washington playing peacemaker.

The United States has been in the forefront of efforts to ease tensions in the region and promote the peace process. The poll showed 63 per cent approved of Pakistan having trade relations with India, 35 per cent said no.

The long-standing rivalry between the two South Asian rivals has significantly restricted official bilateral trade, which was a mere $204 million between July 2001 and March 2002.

Traders have had to carry out the bulk of their business unofficially through countries, such as Dubai or Singapore. Economists say the potential for bilateral trade is massive should trade restrictions be lifted, given the combined population of India and Pakistan of around 1.15 billion people.