Panos South Asia organised a 'media retreat' in Istanbul on 2-3 December 2005 to discuss critical issues related to solving the Kashmir problem. The meeting was attended by seniormost Indian and Pakistani 'media gatekeepers' and a panel from India- and Pakistan-administered Kashmir — Sardar Qayoom Khan, former prime minister of Azad Kashmir, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Chairman of the Srinagar-based Hurriyat Conference, and Ved Bhasin, chair of Kashmir Times of Jammu.
The media persons participating were, from India: N Ram, editor-in-chief of The Hindu; Shashi Shekhar Gupta, group editor of Amar Ujala; Uday Shankar, CEO and editor of Star News; and Om Thanvi, editor of Jansatta. From Pakistan: Hameed Haroon, publisher of Dawn; Talat Hussain, director of Aaj television; Rehana Hakim, editor of Newsline; Mujibur Rehman Shami, editor of Daily Pakistan; and Mehmood Shaam, editor of Jang. Also participating were Panos South Asia Executive Director A S Panneerselvan and Himal Southasian editor Kanak Mani Dixit, moderator of the Panos India-Pakistan media retreats since the beginning.
The Istanbul media retreat followed on three earlier meetings between Indian and Pakistani journalists on the following topics: the India-Pakistan 'composite dialogue' (Bentota, Sri Lanka, September 2004), the nuclear weaponisation of Southasia (Bellagio, Italy, July 2003), and conflict and the India-Pakistan media (Nagarkot, Nepal, May 2002).
Himal presents here an edited summary of the discussions held in Istanbul as well as selected statements by participants. The transcribing was done by Assistant Editor Prashant Jha.