Resume Dialogue, for India, Pak Cannot Afford War: Gilani

Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has said that his country is also a victim of terrorism with ‘101 Mumbai-like incidents’ having taken place, and asked India to resume dialogue as both the countries ‘cannot afford war’, reported IANS.

“There are 101 Mumbai-like incidents 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 was quoted as saying.

He made the statement in an interview to a television channel broadcast on Thursday.

After Mumbai terror attacks, India stopped all dialogue with Pakistan alleging that the terror conspiracy was hatched on Pakistani soil.

During the interview, Gilani made reference to the Indo-Pak joint statement issued in Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt last year, on the sidelines of the non-aligned leaders summit in 2009, said report.

“That was a very good meeting. We discussed all issues. And we had understanding that we both are suffering from terrorism,” Gilani was quoted as saying.

The Pakistani premier pointed that ‘1.25 billion (people) should not be made hostage to one incident’, report said.

“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,” Gilani was quoted as saying.