By IANS,
New Delhi: Pakistan is also a victim of terrorism with “101 Mumbai-like incidents” having taken place, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has said and asked India to resume dialogue as both the countries “cannot afford war”.
“There are 101 Mumbai-like incident in Pakistan after that. Dialogue is the only answer. We are both responsible nations. We can only move forward. We cannot afford war. The only way forward is talks,” Gilani said in an interview to CNN-IBN television channel broadcast Thursday.
India had stopped all dialogue with Pakistan after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, with the Indian government alleging that the terror conspiracy was hatched on Pakistani soil.
Gilani referred to the joint statement issued after the meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt, on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned leaders summit in 2009.
“That was a very good meeting. We discussed all issues. And we had understanding that we both are suffering from terrorism,” Gilani said.
The Pakistani leader said that “1.25 billion (people) should not be made hostage to one incident”.
“So (if) we are hostage to this incident, then the beneficiary is the terrorist. Therefore, we should move forward.”
“Certainly we condemn terrorism and we always believe that neither Pakistani nor Indian soil (should) be used against each other. We are the victims of terrorism. You know how we are fighting the war on terrorism,” asserted Gilani.