New Delhi, July 26 (TIWN) More people-to-people exchanges, and talks, both formal and informal, are the way forward for an end to the bilateral tensions hobbling the India-Pakistan relations, members of a group from India that attended a Track-II dialogue in Islamabad earlier this month, have said.

It was the first such initiative after the Pulwama attack that soured relations between the two neighbours. "After the Pulwama attack and the tensions, it was important to initiate a dialogue, especially among civil society. It was more symbolic in that sense. Measures to facilitate more people to people contact, especially medical tourism, having an easier visa regime, the trade relations - that was basically what was talked about," Devika Mittal, India convenor of Aaghaz-e-Dosti that works for peace between the two nations, told IANS.

Though there was no official level representation from India at the event, hosted by the Islamabad-based Regional Peace Institute (RPI), Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria did host the Indian participants for lunch. The event was supported by the United States Institute for Peace (USIP). The conference discussed "the areas in which India and Pakistan can mutually benefit and can connect", said Mittal.