Gilani lauds Manmohan's bold vision of peace for South Asia

Rezaul H Laskar

Islamabad, Jul 30 (PTI) Lauding Indian Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh's "statesmanship" and his "bold vision of peace
and prosperity," Pakistan Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani has said
dialogue was the only way forward for peace in South Asia.

Responding to Singh's statement in the Lok Sabha (Lower
House of Indian Parliament) on the Indo-Pak joint statement of
Egypt, Gilani reciprocated the "sentiments for peace"
expressed by him and said terrorism was a common threat to the
two countries.

The Pakistani premier said the two leaders "had useful
talks and a good meeting of minds" during their talks on the
sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement summit at Sharm
el-Sheikh on July 16.

"We had agreed that terrorism was a common threat. We
also agreed that dialogue is the only way forward," Gilani
said in a statement issued by the Prime Minister's House.

He said Singh "has rightly emphasised the importance of
an honourable settlement of the outstanding issues between
India and Pakistan". He also commended Singh for his "bold
vision of peace and prosperity in South Asia and the
statesmanship that he has demonstrated".

Intervening in a debate on the Indo-Pak joint statement
in the parliament yesterday, Singh said it was "in our vital
interest to make sincere efforts to live in peace with
Pakistan" and emphasised that India wanted good relations with
the neighbouring country.

Singh said: "Unless we talk directly to Pakistan, we
will have to rely on third parties to do so. That route has
severe limitations as to its effectiveness".

He, however, added that "despite the best of intentions,
we cannot move forward if terrorist attacks launched from
Pakistani soil continue to kill and injure our citizens, here
and abroad. That is the national position."

Asked to comment on Singh's remarks, Foreign Office
spokesman Abdul Basit said Pakistan is a victim of terrorism
and its neighbour should cooperate with it in tackling the
menace rather than indulging in blame games.

He said Pakistan has an open and clear policy on
terrorism.

He said Pakistan will adopt a constructive approach for
the forthcoming meetings with the Foreign Secretary and
Foreign Minister of India and hopefully the process of
composite dialogue will commence again. PTI RHL
DdC
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