By NNN-PTI,
Islamabad : Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari pledged to rein in extremist groups but cautioned India not to dictate the course of action as “we shall do it in our own time and not because of your demarche”.
Accepting that Pakistan had the “cancer” of extremism, Zardari on Saturday said, “We have non-state actors. Yes, they are forcing an agenda on us….We will cure it, we will solve it, we will correct it”.
Ruling out war as a solution to the problems of the region, the President told a gathering at Naudero on the first death anniversary of his wife Benazir Bhutto,”dialogue is our biggest arsenal, biggest tool”.
In a reference to the US and India, Zardari said, “I want to tell the oldest democracy and the largest democracy of the world–listen to us, learn from us. We have experiences to share with you. We have lost our people-we do not not talk about war, we do not not talk about vengeance”.
Without directly naming India but in an obvious reference to it, the President said, “in case there are people in the region who feel that they want to test our mettle, I would like to tell them that this mettle has been tested many times.
Please do not not test it again.” Acknowledging that Pakistan had “weaknesses”, Zardari said, “we intend to overcome our weaknesses but we shall do it in our own time and not not on your demarche.”