Indo-Pak students debate and share views

[1]

The teams from India and Pakistan that participated in the debate

The dialogue between India and Pakistan shifted to grassroots as school students from the two countries faced off in the finals of India-Pakistan Schools Debate organised by the debating societies of India and Pakistan.

The event that almost got cancelled due to the visa issue had to be tailored as only one of the three Pakistani teams that were supposed to participate in the debate could make it to India.
Sofyan Sultan, the coach of the Pakistan’s debating team, apologised for not having the teams here and said that getting permission and visa to visit the neighbouring country is much more difficult than visiting any other country in the world.
About the visit, he said, “We’re here to compete, to interact with people and develop relations between the two countries. We need to interact at early stages of our lives and not visit the neighbouring country for the first time when we’re forty. These kids will take home relations from here. They’ll make new friends and add them on Facebook. That’s what we need.”
The finals was between SICAS, the team from Pakistan, and La Martiniere Boys, Kolkata who won the semifinals against Vasant Valley opposing the motion to ban all-women sport.
In the finals, SICAS successfully opposed the motion for free trade between India and Pakistan with convincing arguments.