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Summary Ex- PM Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that the ISI is on board and supports the dialogues with India.
“The days of fighting wars are over. The ISI and the army are part of the government and they are regularly consulted on the India-Pakistan dialogue. Everyone is on board, including the opposition,” Gilani said while giving an interview to Indian daily Hindustan Times published here on Wednesday.Gilani who had been disqualified for contempt by the country’s apex court has had several rounds of meetings with India counterpart during his premiership Singh.“Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is an honourable man and has the conviction to normalise ties. I took the initiative and met him and told him that poverty-stricken nations like ours should focus on development and solve core issues. I also told him that if as neighbours we don’t talk, after the Mumbai attacks, then the terrorists will be the only beneficiary,” Gilani told the paper in a telephonic interview, referring to his meetings with Singh in Sharmal Sheikh, Thimpu, New York and in Maldives.Reiterating that confidence building measures between India and Pakistan were the only way forward, Gilani, who led the peace process till his removal by the court, said, “Manmohan Singh is a genuine person and he wanted us to discuss all core issues including Sir Creek, Siachen, terrorism and Kashmir. We were working on all issues and between us, we had reduced the trust deficit to a level where the two countries can now walk the talk.”Pointing to the fact that the two countries were still engaging at the highest levels, he said that Manmohan Singh’s meeting with President Zardari in Iran would only “enhance the relationship.”Asked if the dialogue process had suffered a setback after his removal as the prime minister, as Manmohan had referred to him as a ‘man of peace’ after their last meeting in Maldives in November last year, Gilani said, “In Pakistan, I’m also referred to as a man of crises but the dialogue will stay on track as it’s the same government with the same President (Zardari). The dialogue now has a level of trust and consistency.”The former prime minister parried a question of why Pakistan was not providing voice samples of terrorists arrested for the Mumbai attack, if the ISI, was on board.“The best person to answer that question would be the interior minister,” Gilani said.
