Pakistan PM Gilani said he would hold talks with Manmohan Singh on the margins of the NAM summit in Egypt with an "open mind"
Pakistan prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani today said he would hold talks with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh on the margins of the NAM summit in Egypt with an "open mind" as he believed any "pause" in bilateral dialogue would benefit terrorists.
"If talks were on pause, that benefitted the terrorists," Gilani told reporters here before embarking on a four-day visit to attend the Non-Aligned Movement summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. He said he would approach his parleys with Singh with an "open mind".
"Both countries were moving in the right direction but because of the Mumbai incident, there has been a pause in the composite dialogue," Gilani said.
He said his talks with Singh on the sidelines of the NAM summit were aimed at restarting the stalled peace process.
More interaction between the two countries will prove beneficial, he said.
The foreign secretaries of the two countries will hold talks today in Sharm el-Sheikh to chalk out the agenda for his meeting with Singh, he said. Singh and he would also decide on "the issues to be discussed" when they meet, Gilani added.
Pakistan believes in cordial relations with all countries, particularly its neighbours, he said. Gilani also said his visit to the NAM summit was "extremely important" as he would meet several world leaders.
This will be the second meeting between Gilani and Singh. They earlier met on the sidelines of a SAARC summit in Colombo.
India put the composite dialogue on hold in the wake of last year's Mumbai attacks. It has blamed Pakistan-based elements, including the banned Lashker-e-Taiba, for palnning and carrying out the attacks that killed nearly 183 people.
New Delhi has linked the resumption of the peace process to Islamabad taking action against the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks. Pakistan has insisted that conditions should not be attached to the resumption of talks.
Ahead of Gilani's visit to Egypt, the Pakistan government took some steps that were apparently aimed at addressing India's concerns on the probe into the Mumbai attacks. The federal and Punjab governments filed appeals in the Supreme Court challenging LeT founder Hafiz Mohammad Saeed's release from house arrest on the orders of the Lahore High Court.
The move, however, suffered a setback after the Punjab government informed the apex court that it wanted to withdraw its appeal.
Law minister Rehman Malik has also said that the trial of five LeT operatives arrested in connection with the Mumbai attacks will get underway this week. The trial has been held up for nearly two months due to the non-availability of a judge.
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