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Friday, April 01, 2011
Indo-Pak dialogue only way forward, says Zardari
* President terms Gilani-Singh meeting ‘a positive development’ for region
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari said on Thursday that dialogue between Pakistan and India was the only way forward to address all outstanding issues between the two countries.
He was talking to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani at the Presidency after the latter’s return home from a daylong visit to India. The prime minister briefed the president on his visit and discussion with his Indian counterpart Dr Manmohan Singh and Indian National Congress President Sonia Gandhi and also about the talks in New Delhi between the interior secretaries of the two countries.
President Zardari welcomed the meeting of Gilani with the Indian leadership and termed it “a positive development” for the region. He expressed the hope that it would provide further impetus to the efforts for a meaningful dialogue between the two sides on all the outstanding issues.
The president also appreciated Prime Minister Singh for extending the invitation to the Pakistani leadership to visit India, and said that regular interaction at all levels would not only provide a solid platform to resolve mutual issues but would also help obviate and reduce misperceptions and mistrust.
The president said the two countries needed to resolve all issues so as to concentrate on welfare of their respective people by addressing the problems of hunger, disease and poor infrastructure.
Prime Minister Gilani informed the president that he had also extended invitation to both Singh and Sonia Gandhi to visit Pakistan.
The president hoped that such visits and resumption of talks would serve as important confidence-building measures. He greeted both the teams for a good game and said winning or losing a match was not really important. “In fact, the event provided an opportunity for the two countries’ leadership to meet,” said the president. app
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk