Thaindian News

New Delhi, Jan 28 (IANS) Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has said his country was a victim of terrorism with “101 Mumbai-like incidents” taking place and asked India to resume dialogue as both the countries “cannot afford war”.
“There are 101 Mumbai-like incident 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 said in an interview to CNN-IBN television channel broadcast Thursday.

India had stopped all dialogue with Pakistan after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, with the Indian government alleging that the terror conspiracy was hatched on Pakistani soil.

Pakistan has recently brought charges against seven accused for the Mumbai attack but not against Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafez Saeed, whom India accuses of being the main conspirator.

“He is already under trial. In fact it has to be decided by the court,” Gilani said, denying that Pakistan was dragging its feet.

“We needed further information about that incident and at the same time we need more evidence to put him to task,” Gilani said, reiterating Pakistan’s stance that there was not enough information for a strong case against Saeed.

“In fact, we had asked for further info, so that we should strengthen the case. We have already registered the case. The matter is sub-judice in the Lahore High Court.”

Gilani also reacted to the statement by US Defence secretary Robert Gates that India may not be as patient with Pakistan, if another Mumbai-like incident were to happen.

“I was of the opinion when I talked to Gates, if there is any credible information, we are ready to share with india. That should be pre-empted before time, not after that. If India has any information, they can share with us. We are ready to share any intelligence or any sort of info. We are ready to support you,” he said.

Gilani also reacted to recent comments by Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram that India does not accept the argument of non-state actors being solely responsible for the attacks.

“If you have any information, instead of saying that we will bracket the (Pakistan) government with it (non-state actors), it is better that you share it with us so that we jointly resolve the issue,” he said.

Gilani urged India to restart the dialogue process.

He referred to the joint statement issued together after the meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt on the sidelines of non-aligned leaders’ summit in 2009.

“That was a very good meeting. We discussed all issues. And we had (an) understanding that we both are suffering from terrorism,” Gilani said.

The Pakistani leader said that “1.25 billion should not be made hostage to one incident”.

“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 or Indian soil to be used against each other. We are the victims of terrorism. You know how we are fighting the war on terrorism,” asserted Gilani.