Gilani says he discussed all 'outstanding' issues with Singh

Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, Apr 2 (PTI): Pakistan Premier Yousuf Raza
Gilani has said his talks with his Indian counterpart Manmohan
Singh on the sidelines of the cricket World Cup semi-final in
Mohali involved all "core and outstanding" issues between the
two countries, including the Kashmir problem.
"During my meeting with Dr Manmohan Singh, and at all
our previous meetings, all core and outstanding issues were
discussed. Without resolving the Kashmir issue, we cannot take
things forward. We discussed all core and outstanding issues,
including Kashmir," Gilani said, responding to queries on
his live monthly TV show "PM Online" Friday night.
Referring to his meetings with Singh at Colombo in
2008, Sharm el-Sheikh in 2009 and Thimphu last year, he said
it was in the Bhutanese capital that the two leaders agreed to
resume the dialogue process at the level of the Foreign
Secretaries and Foreign Ministers.
Gilani said he accepted Singh's invitation to watch
the Pakistan-India World Cup semi-final in Mohali as he
thought the meeting would provide a good opportunity for
discussions with the Indian Prime Minister.
The two countries have to find solutions to their
problems through dialogue, he said.
Asked about previous attempts at cricket diplomacy by
Pakistan's former military rulers, Gilani said: "It will not
be proper to compare the current democratic government in
Pakistan with the regimes of Gen Zia-ul-Haq or Pervez
Musharraf... There is democracy on both sides and both sides
have made sacrifices for democracy."
Despite the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, Gilani said,
he and Singh agreed during their meeting in Thimphu to resume
talks and not to let the dialogue process become hostage to
such incidents as it would only benefit militants.
Gilani said the presence of Indian Congress Party
President Sonia Gandhi in the Mohali meeting was a "show of
solidarity."
He described the recent meeting of the Home and
Interior Secretaries of India and Pakistan as "extremely
successful" and said the Commerce Secretaries of the two sides
would meet soon in Islamabad.
This would be followed by more meetings to discuss
issues in eight different sectors, he added.
Responding to a question about third party mediation
between India and Pakistan, Gilani sidestepped the issue and
said the two countries can and should resolve their problems
through bilateral dialogue.
"We have to take ownership of our issues," he said.
Asked about the investigation into the assassination
of former Pakistan Premier Benazir Bhutto, Gilani said he had
received an inquiry report that will be presented at the next
meeting of the PPP's central executive committee in the
presence of party chairperson Bilawal Bhutto.