Gilani 'Singh'ing India peace song

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday reduced its rhetoric a notch, with prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, saying “there is absolutely no question of war” with India. At the same time, the authorities arrested an “Indian spy” for a terror attack in Lahore that killed a woman.

Christmas Day newspapers hailed Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh for his comments on Tuesday that there was “no question of war” with Pakistan despite the Mumbai terror attacks, for which New Delhi has blamed Pakistani terrorists, triggering tensions between the two countries.

But amid reports of Pakistani troop deployment along the border with India, prime minister Gilani said his coalition government desired “excellent relations” with its larger neighbour.

“There is no question of war. There is absolutely no question of war,” he said in Lahore.
At the same time, Gilani urged the world to convince India to defuse the situation that followed the audacious November 26-29 Mumbai terror that left at least 170 people dead, including 26 foreigners.

“We had good relations with India. I assure you that we want excellent relations with India. We want to maintain good relations with India,” said the prime minister. “In my assessment, there will be no war.”

The authorities, meanwhile, claimed to have arrested an Indian spy who they said was involved in Wednesday’s blast in Lahore that killed a woman and injured four people.