Defending PM in contempt case an arduous job: Aitzaz

Defending Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in the contempt case is an arduous job, Aitzaz Ahsan said Thursday in New Delhi, media reports said.
“It has been difficult for me to come here. In fact, it has been an escape from the rather arduous job of defending our prime minister on the charges of grave contempt of the Supreme Court,” he said.
Ahsan is in New Delhi to participate in 3-day conference titled India-Pakistan: Civil Society Review of Strategic Relations organised by Delhi-based think-tank Centre for Policy Analysis.
He, however, did not elaborate on the case which he is fighting for Gilani who is facing contempt of court for failing to act on the apex court’s orders to approach Swiss authorities to revive cases of alleged money laundering.
Speaking at the conference, he likened India and Pakistan to ‘Siamese twins’ who are inseparable. “Pakistan and India are basically like Siamese twins and you cannot separate them. You (India) cannot push us (Pakistan) to Arabian Sea and we cannot push you to the Indian Ocean.
“We have to live together and that should be the basis of our co-existence and mutual respect,” he said. Saying that Pakistan realises that confrontation is counter-productive and wars are not a solution, he said that he sees no reason for nuclear war.
“It would be madness to detonate a bomb. It is the most useless weapon in armoury and has been used only once in history,” he said. “After India conducted Pokhran test in 1974, we decided to eat grass but have the bomb and since then we are eating grass,” Aitzaz was quoted by media as saying.
On situation in the region, he said, “We are paying for what some people did to the United States on 9/11, as the war came to Afghanistan and Pakistan despite the fact that not a single Pakistani or Afghani was involved in the actual operation. If, God forbid, you have Taliban, though we will never let that happen, we will fight them; but if you have Taliban at your borders, you have a bigger problem. Ask us what problem Taliban is,” he said.
“India and Pakistan have to think out of the box and walk extra mile in solving all pending issues including Kashmir,” said Aitzaz Ahsan.