By NNN-APP,
Islamabad : Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Thursday said Pakistan and India must not be held “hostage to one incident”—the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks—and should hold composite dialogue.
“Billion people should not be made hostage to one incident. If we are hostage to one incident, then the beneficiaries are terrorists and therefore we should move ahead,” Gilani said in an interview with India’s CNN-IBN television channel.
The Prime Minister said, “Things are stuck with the Mumbai incident—the matter is already sub judice with the courts (in Pakistan). We certainly condemn terrorism and believe that neither Indian nor Pakistani soil should be used against each other.”
He said Pakistan was the victim of terrorism and was fighting the war on terror, adding that
“there are 101 Mumbai-like incidents in Pakistan after that (26/11)”.
Stressing the need for dialogue between the two countries, Gilani said, “I think dialogue is the only answer. We are both responsible nations and we can move forward—we can’t afford war. I think the only way forward is talks.”
The Prime Minister said he had a “very good meeting” with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the Sharm-el-Sheikh summit. “We discussed all issues and we had an understanding that we both are suffering from terrorism.”
Gilani expressed the hope that Pakistan and India would talk to each other in 2010. “I believe politics is a day-to-day affair, and I certainly hope we will move forward for a composite dialogue.”
On outrage in Pakistan against the country’s cricketers being “snubbed” by the Indian Premier League, he said, “I think it is the mood of the parliament; the mood of the public and we have to follow their point of view as well. I think, with time things will be all right.”