By Muhammad Najeeb,IANS,
Islamabad : Former Pakistan prime minister and opposition
leader Nawaz Sharif Tuesday called upon the governments of Pakistan and
India to jointly probe the Mumbai attacks and resume the peace process.
“Pakistan and India should jointly probe the Mumbai attacks and immediately
resume the composite dialogue,” Sharif, who also heads the Pakistan Muslim
League-Nawaz (PML-N), told journalists here.
Sharif, the first senior politician to say that the lone survivor of the
Mumbai attacks Ajmal Amir Kasab was a Pakistani, said this was not the time
to raise war slogans. Rather, this was the time for both countries to work
for the betterment of relations and peace in the region.
“This is important for the people of both the countries and for the
development of the region,” Sharif, who was prime minister in 1998 when
Pakistan tested its nuclear weapon soon after India, said.
The peace process between the two countries came to a grinding halt in the
wake of the Nov 26-29 Mumbai terror attack in which more than 170 people
were killed.
Urging India to “hold dialogue with Pakistan instead of giving threats”, he
said: “War is not a solution; rather it will increase problems.”
Sharif, who initiated a peace dialogue with India after the famous bus
journey by then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1999 but was strongly
criticised for the Kargil conflict which he blames on former military
dictator General Pervez Musharraf, is also scheduled to meet Saudi
intelligence chief Prince Muqrin bin Abdul Aziz.
Prince Muqrin is in Pakistan to help bring about a rapprochement between
Sharif’s PML-N and the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party led by President Asif
Ali Zardari.
Reports said Prince Muqrin will meet Zardari and other officials and urge
them to take steps to reduce tensions with India.
“Saudi Arabia wants de-escalation of tension between India and Pakistan,”
Sharif said when asked about the purpose of the visit.