Lauding Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's "statesmanship" and his "bold vision of peace and prosperity," Pakistan Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani has said dialogue was the only way forward for peace in South Asia. Responding to Singh's statement in the Lok Sabha on the Indo-Pak joint statement of Egypt, Gilani reciprocated the "sentiments for peace" expressed by him and said terrorism was a common threat to the two countries.
Pakistan, which is experiencing 'Mumbai-like attacks almost every other day', cannot guarantee that there will not be a repeat of the 26/11 strikes in India, Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani has told the United States."Pakistan is itself facing Mumbai-like attacks almost every other day and when we cannot protect our own citizens, how can we guarantee that there wouldn't be any more terrorist hits in India," Gilani was quoted by a source in the media as saying.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday said he would hold talks with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh on the margins of the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Egypt with an 'open mind' as he believed any 'pause' in bilateral dialogue would benefit terrorists. "If talks were on pause, that benefited the terrorists," Gilani told reporters in Islamabad before embarking on a four-day visit to attend the NAM summit.
The army operation against militants in Swat and Malakand division will soon be over but Pakistan will continue to fight terrorism and take the campaign to its "logical conclusion", Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Wednesday. "The nation will soon hear the good news... soon the army operation will be over.
In a move towards political reconciliation in Pakistan, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Sunday met opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Nawaz Sharif offering an "olive branch", as reinstated chief justice Iftikhar M Chaudhry returned to his post after two years of protests over his ouster.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday confirmed the arrest of Hafiz Saeed, chief of the banned organisation Jamaat-ud-Dawa.
The meeting comes against the backdrop of a major crackdown on lawyers and opposition party activists ahead of a nationwide protest.
Pakistan premier Yousuf Raza Gilani on Monday directed the Interior Ministry to send a team of experts to Sri Lanka to probe if elements based there were linked to the terrorist attack on Lankan cricketers in Lahore.Gilani issued the direction during a meeting in Islamabad with Interior Minister Rehman Malik, who apprised him on the overall security situation in the country.
"We want relations with India on the basis of equality. If Pakistan and India do not enter into negotiations for the betterment of the region, then someone else would get the benefit. If there will not be bilateral talks, the terrorists will take advantage of it," The News quoted Gilani, as saying.
Police in Pakistan have busted an illegal telephone gateway exchange in Lahore, allegedly being operated by the Taliban to make ransom calls to families of persons kidnapped by them, including the sons of former premier Yusuf Raza Gilani and slain Punjab governor Salman Taseer.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Thursday that Pakistan will produce evidence of India's alleged involvement in fomenting unrest in the tribal areas and Balochistan when there is a need to do so.
In fresh embarrassment to the Pakistan government, Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani's statement on the possibility of sending an investigation team to India was contradicted by his cabinet colleague Sherry Rehman, who denied that any such move had been initiated by Islamabad.
Seeking a resolution of the Kashmir issue for lasting peace, Pakistan Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday said Pakistani people were disappointed that the United States Special Envoy Richard Holbrooke's mandate did not include India and hoped that the Obama administration would review the matter.
Aiming at a "decisive" victory over the Taliban, Pakistan on Thursday pressed with air and ground operation in the north-western tribal belt, where fierce fighting killed nine soldiers and 14 militants, including a son of a hardline cleric who negotiated the Swat peace deal.
Following is the text of Joint Statement issued after the meeting between the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani will meet his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh on July 16 on the sidelines of the Non Aligned Movement summit in Egypt "in a bid to restart the stalled peace process" between the two countries.
Notwithstanding the chill in bilateral relations, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani have sent their New Year greetings to their Indian counterparts.Zardari and Gilani have sent their greetings to President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh through the Ministry of External Affairs, sources said on Wednesday.
As Pakistani warplanes conducted sorties for the second straight day, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday said the two countries cannot afford tension along their border. "Nobody wants tensions on the borders and we are moving responsibly and with caution," Gilani told reporters on the sidelines of an official ceremony in Islamabad.
The Pakistan government has blocked a resolution moved in the UN Security Council for imposing sanctions against former Inter-Services-Intelligence chief retired Lieutenant General Hamid Gul over his alleged links with al-Qaeda and Taliban, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Wednesday.
Amid India's suspicions of the involvement of the Inter Services Intelligence in the planning of Mumbai terror strikes, the chief of the Pakistani spy agency on Friday called on Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in Islamabad.The Director General of the ISI, Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha, met Gilani and briefed him on the prevailing security situation, an official statement said.No further details about the meeting were available.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Saturday said the United States should offer Pakistan a civil nuclear cooperation deal similar to the one it finalised with India in order to maintain "balance" in the region.
The findings of the report will be shared with India and the world community, Gilani told reporters at the airport in Islamabad after arriving in the provincial capital of Punjab province from Islamabad.
A wardrobe fit for the 'world's most beautiful woman'.
Pakistan is taking India's dossier on the Mumbai terror attacks "extremely seriously" and will "have to act fast" to complete its probe, Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani has said. "The dossier passed on to the government of Pakistan, we are taking it extremely seriously, and we have already started (an) investigation and the results will come soon," he told the Financial Times daily in an interview.
During a meeting with visiting NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Gilani expressed Pakistan's "keen desire to defuse the situation in South Asia in the wake of the Mumbai attacks". "Pakistan will complete its inquiry into the dossier of information provided by India as soon as possible and will share its results with India and other countries in due course", he said.
Seeking to play down Home Minister P Chidambaram's remarks that India may snap business and tourist links with Pakistan, Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday said he did not mind such statements as the Indian government was under 'tremendous' public pressure over the Mumbai attack.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani today accused the world of "double standards" in dealing with the Mumbai attacks and terrorist incidents in Pakistan, saying there was no need for the international community to make "so much noise" about the strike in India's financial hub.
'Common friends' of India and Pakistan are playing their role to defuse tensions between the two countries as war is not in the interest of either nation, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Friday."War is not in the interest of any country and all issues should be resolved through dialogue," Gilani said."The peace-loving countries and the common friends of Pakistan and India are playing their role to defuse tensions between the two countries," he said.
With the Pakistani link being suspected in the deadly Mumbai terror attacks, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has called a special meeting of his Cabinet to discuss the situation arising out of this development, particularly its impact on the Indo-Pak relations.
Pakistan on Saturday did an about turn on sending the Inter-Services Intelligence chief to India, in connection with the probe into the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, saying a representative of the spy agency would be sent instead of him.The decision was made at a late night meeting between President Asif Ali Zardari and General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the chief of the powerful army. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani also joined the meeting.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Saturday condemned the bomb attacks in Bangalore and Ahmedabad, describing them as 'acts of senseless violence against innocent persons'.A statement issued by the foreign ministry said: "Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has strongly condemned the acts of terrorist violence in the Indian cities of Ahmedabad and Bangalore and expressed deep sympathies with the bereaved families and the victims of these dastardly acts,"
Highlighting the need to root out terrorism, Pakistan Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday told his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh that 'the present state of unrest in the region demanded more cooperation in combating the menace.Gilani telephoned Singh today to congratulate him on winning the crucial trust vote and said that his success "is the success of democracy and such democratic norms must be encouraged in the region for strengthening the relations."
Under attack from the international community for not reining in terrorist outfits, Pakistan on Thursday said that it will not allow use of its territory for terror activities."I assure you and I assure the House that I will never ever allow my soil, Pakistani soil to be used for terror activities," Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said at the World Economic Forum in Davos.Terming the Mumbai incident as 'unfortunate', Gilani said, "We condemn terrorism."
Ruling out the handing over to India of any Pakistani national found to be involved in the Mumbai terror attacks, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani today said such persons will be tried in the country under local laws.
Pakistan is conducting its own probe into the evidence received from India on Mumbai terror attacks but no Pakistani national found to be involved in the incident will be handed over to any other country, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Sunday."We are conducting our own investigation and once we have completed it, we will bring the findings before the people," Gilani said, adding that the evidence provided by India was being examined by investigators.
Pakistanis would like to see the armed forces "confined to garrisons" as the country has already paid an "enormous' cost for frequent interventions by military in politics, Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Thursday.
Unfazed by the demands from the estranged ally PML-N and the influential lawyers movement, Pakistan's ruling PPP has decided against re-instating deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar M Chaudhry to his previous post and said he will have to work under the incumbent if re-appointed.
Making a policy statement in parliament, Gilani said, "As a measure of our tangible display to seek peace with our neighbours, we have decided to freeze, actually reduce, the defence budget when seen in the context of inflation and the rupee-dollar parity." Without naming India, he added: "We hope to see a reciprocal gesture from our neighbour for the sake of peace and prosperity of the region."
Pakistan does not want a war with India but was "prepared" to defend itself if aggression is imposed on the country in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Monday. "We don't want to get involved in a war. I want to assure the House and the people that we do not want war, but if aggression is thrust on us, we will stand united as a proud nation," Gilani told the National assembly or lower house of parliament.
Top Lashkar-e-Tayiba members Zakiur Rehman Lakhwi and Zarar Shah, both linked to the Mumbai attacks, have been detained by Pakistani security agencies and the law will take its own course if they are found involved in acts of terror, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Wednesday.
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