South Asia News

Pakistan premier: India and Pakistan cannot afford war, must talk

Jan 28, 2010, 14:22 GMT

New Delhi - India and Pakistan should resume their dialogue as neither can afford a war, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousef Raza Gilani said Thursday in an interview to an Indian television channel.

Referring to the Mumbai terrorist attack of November 2008, Gilani said: 'If we are hostage to one incident then the beneficiaries are terrorists and, therefore, we should move ahead.'

A bilateral dialogue between India and Pakistan was stalled after 10 gunmen belonging to the Pakistan-based militant organization Lashkar-e-Taiba attacked the Indian city of Mumbai with guns and bombs, killing 166 people including 26 foreign nationals.

India has said the stalled dialogue to resolve contentious issues, including differences over their border and the disputed Kashmir region, could resume only after Pakistan took tangible action against the Mumbai plotters.

Gilani, during the interview to CNN-IBN television channel, repeated Pakistan's stand that India needed to provide more evidence about the role of Hafiz Saeed, suspected mastermind of the Mumbai attacks and the other accused, before they could be prosecuted.

India has so far given Pakistan seven dossiers linking Pakistani nationals with the Mumbai attacks.