By IANS,
Islamabad : UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has urged Pakistan to cooperate with India in bringing the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attack to justice.
Ban said: “I have urged the prime minister (Yousuf Raza Gilani) that the Pakistan government should have a full investigation into this issue and fully cooperate with the Indian government.”
Some 170 people were killed in the Nov 26-29 Mumbai terror attacks last year.
The secretary general stressed the need for friendly relations between Pakistan and India for the sake of peace and stability of the region, The Dawn reported Thursday.
Ban said that maintaining rapprochement between the two neighbours was of critical importance for regional relations and could pave the way for a “new era of cooperation, peaceful co-existence and socio-economic transformation in South Asia”.
“I would strongly urge again, even though you have suffered because of this Mumbai terrorist attack in your relationship with India, engage in composite dialogue as you have been very sincerely discussing all aspects of bilateral relationship, this is what the UN and international community wants,” the report quoted Ban as saying.
He said long outstanding issues like Kashmir needed to be “addressed and resolved” peacefully through dialogue.
He hoped Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani would move forward with the resumption of the composite dialogue.