Gilani calls for resumption of Indo-Pak dialogue

Pakistani Shia Muslims shout slogans during a protest in Karachi Friday against the killing of Shia Muslims in a suicide attack in Dera Ismail Khan. Photo: AFP

Asserting that his Government is committed to bringing the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to justice, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has called for the resumption of the Composite Dialogue with India.
During a meeting with visiting British shadow security minister Baroness Pauline Neville Johns yesterday, Gilani reaffirmed his government's commitment that "the perpetrators of those heinous crimes will not be spared".
However, he "regretted that India, by refusing Pakistan's cooperation, has only served the objectives of terrorist elements in the region", said an official statement issued after the meeting.
Gilani expressed the hope that both countries "would soon revert to the composite dialogue and undertake sincere efforts to resolve all the issues, including the Kashmir issue, amicably", the statement said.
Johns agreed with Gilani that the Kashmir issue is "part of the problem in the region" and should be resolved by resuming the Composite Dialogue between Pakistan and India as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, under attack from the international community, including US, on the Swat peace deal with Taliban-linked group, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that the pact was within the ambit of the country's constitution and there was "nothing to worry about."
He said that the peace deal enforcing Islamic laws in the restive Swat region would only become operational after restoration of complete normalcy in the area.
Gilani said the Nizam-e-Adl Ordinance would be signed by President Asif Ali Zardari only after the restoration of complete peace in the area.
"What we are doing is within the ambit of the constitution and there is nothing to worry about," he said.
Gilani's comments came as the US, Nato, India and Britain voiced concern over the pact with the Taliban-linked group, saying that it could be a ploy to enable the militant organisations to re-group.
Hardline cleric Sufi Mohammad of Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariah Mohammadi has been closetted with his son-in-law and Pakistani Taliban commander Maulana Fazlullah for the past two days to get the peace pact endorsed by the militant group, who have been waging a bloody campaign in the picturesque Swat valley for enforcing Sharia laws.
Islamic laws in eight districts of Malakand division, Gilani said similar rules were in place during British rule and similar steps had also been taken in 1995.
Responding to a question about the international concern on the Swat deal, he rejected the apprehensions and said the pact was within the ambit of the constitution and part of the government's three-pronged policy of countering militancy through dialogue, development and deterrence.