By IANS,
New Delhi : Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani Friday strongly condemned the terror strikes in Mumbai that have killed 125 people and underlined that terrorism is “a scourge of humanity” that needs to be “rooted out”.
“The people of Pakistan join you in mourning the loss of so many precious lives,” Zardari said in a letter to President Pratibha Patil.
“We offer our heartfelt sympathies and condolences to the family members of all those who have lost their lives or have been injured in these incidents,” said Zardari.
“Such acts of violence and terrorism are totally unacceptable in any civilized society,” Gilani said in a separate letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
“The government and people of Pakistan unequivocally and strongly condemn these heinous acts of terrorism,” Gilani said.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who is currently in India, has suggested that the two countries set up a hotline between their intelligence chiefs to strengthen counter-terrorism cooperation. India has yet to respond to the suggestion.
In his address to the nation Thursday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the terrorists who attacked Mumbai were “based outside the country” and warned that India will no more allow terrorists to stage attacks with impunity.
Amid reports about the likely link of external forces in the Mumbai blasts, Qureshi however, warned against “making insinuations against each other” in case of terror attacks and underlined the need for a cautious approach towards tackling the common scourge.
“Today you are victims. We are victims of terrorism on a daily basis. We must cooperate at this time instead of making insinuations against each other,” Qureshi said in Chandigarh Thursday.
“It’s a very sad incident but let’s not jump to conclusions and cut a sorry figure. Let’s show maturity. We will cooperate, I can assure you,” he added.