ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said on Wednesday that dialogue was the only way forward for normalisation of relations between Pakistan and India and wars were no solution to their decades-old problems.
“My government would like to continue working with the government of India to resolve all outstanding issues peacefully [and] in a just manner,” Gilani said while talking to an Indian peace delegation led by journalist Kuldip Nayar at PM’s House. The PM appreciated contributions of members of both countries’ civil societies towards promotion of the ideas of peace, friendship and development in the region, particularly between India and Pakistan, and said that he wanted to benefit from the wisdom of the civil society and peace activists in pursuing cordial neighborly ties with India.
Gilani said the first priority of his government was the well-being of the people of Pakistan, for which peace and stability in the country were essential. “Pakistan hence wishes to have friendly cooperative and good neighborly relations with India,” he stated.
Recalling meetings with his Indian counterpart in Sherm el-Sheikh in 2009 and in Thimphu in April last year, the premier expressed his belief in the sincerity of Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh for the resolution of all the disputes between the two countries through the peace process. He urged politicians as well as media from both sides to play a positive role in taking the peace process forward.
Gilani expressed satisfaction with the resumption of dialogue between the two countries and said the interior secretaries of the two countries would meet in New Delhi next week to discuss terrorism, drug-trafficking and humanitarian issues. The delegation agreed with the PM that misperceptions on both sides needed to be addressed through increased people-to-people contact and parliamentary exchanges.
Members of the Indian Peace delegation were filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, Vrinda Grover, Jatin Desai, Mazhar Hussain, Ramesh Yadev, Shahid Siddiqui, Haris Kidwai, Bharai Modi, Kangkal Shanith Kumar and Nikhil Kumar.
