Pak looking to 'fully utilise' Gilani's India visit
ISLAMABAD: Ahead of Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani's visit to India tomorrow for the cricket World Cup semi-final, Pakistan has said it is working to "fully utilise the occasion" to improve the bilateral ties and "bridge the communication gap" between the leadership of the two nations.
Making it clear that Gilani is visiting India primarily to watch the Pakistan-India semi-final and "not to discuss the Kashmir issue", Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan, however, said the two Prime Ministers "could discuss anything on the occasion".
Awan made the remarks while briefing the media yesterday about a meeting of the federal Cabinet chaired by Gilani to brief his colleagues about his visit to India at the invitation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh .
She said Pakistan's Foreign Office and its High Commission in New Delhi are working to "fully utilise the occasion" to improve relations between the two countries.
Gilani's visit will be used to "bridge the communication gap" between the leadership of the two countries following the gesture of goodwill by the Indian government , she said.
Gilani believed Singh's invitation was a significant step forward on the diplomatic front and Pakistan government had accepted it in the larger interest of the country, she added.
Asked if the PPP-led government had taken the security establishment and opposition parties into confidence before accepting Singh's invitation, Awan said "all stakeholders" had been taken on board.
There would be greater clarity a day before Gilani's India visit about the delegation that will accompany him and the issues that could be discussed during the meeting in Mohali, she said.
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India, Pakistan agree to cooperate on terror probe
Pakistan has agreed to a visit by an Indian judicial commission investigating the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai that were blamed on Pakistan-based militants.
The countries' home secretaries said in a statement Tuesday after two days of talks that they are still working out the details and dates for such a visit.
The statement also says India shared information on a deadly 2007 bombing of a train between Delhi and Lahore, allegedly carried out by Hindu nationalists.
The talks in New Delhi are aimed at restoring relations between the nuclear-armed neighbors after they cut ties in the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
The home secretaries say they will set up a hotline to share information on terrorist threats.
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Kashmiri organisation welcome PM Gilani’s visit to India
The UK-based Kashmiri organisation has welcomed the visit of Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to India and termed it as a ‘positive move’ towards confidence building measures. Prof. Nazir Ahmed Shawl, Executive Director, Justice Foundation Kashmir Centre, said Monday that the visit of Prime Minister Gilani to Mohali to witness the World Cup semi-final; match between Pakistan and India vindicates his stance that channels of diplomacy are still open.
“The people of Jammu and Kashmir welcome the improvement of Indo-Pak relations but at the same time remind the two countries that Kashmir dispute is the source of greatest discontent and impediment in these ties.”
Kashmir dispute, he added, needs to be resolved in accordance with the aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Shawl said along side the secretary level talks there will be an informal interaction between the two Prime Ministers.
“We the people of Jammu and Kashmir expect PM Gilani to convey to his counter part in categorical terms to hold an internationally supervised referendum in the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir to determine their aspirations.
“This is the excepted democratic solution to long lingering disputes.Such referendums paved the way towards resolution of East Timor and recently in southern Sudan.”
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