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Closer Indo-Pak ties will release funds for development, says Amartya

Nobel laureate Amartya Sen today advocated improved relations between India and Pakistan for reduction of military expenditure which will release resources for development purposes with a renewed thrust on the social sectors.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Prof Sen noted with concern that the security expenditure in the subcontinent was ''extremely high'', and said any easing of tension between the two neighbours will benefit the poor in these countries.

Prof Sen said he was greatly impressed by the work of the late economist Mehbub-ul Haq who had done considerable work to show the benefits which demilitarisation would have on development. This has been argued strongly in the United Nations Development Programme reports which were prepared under Haq's guidance.

Prof Haq, who was former finance minister of Pakistan, later left UNDP and started his own centre in Pakistan where he continued to impress upon the need for countries like India and Pakistan to devote more resources towards basic education and health, a cause which Prof Sen himself has been espousing.

Some other points highlighted by the welfare economist were greater allocation of resources for the neglected areas like primary education, improved implementation of the programmes for the poor, expansion of social opportunities as the main concern for the future developmental strategy, more pronounced role of the Western countries in promoting democracies in underdeveloped regions of the world and making the market work to promote equity and efficiency.

UNI

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