Stalled Indo-Pak peace process benefiting terrorists: Gilani

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani today asked India to return to the composite dialogue process, contending that the delay in resuming the stalled peace talks would only benefit terrorists.

"We seek relations (with India) on the basis of equality. It is our resolve not to let our soil to be used for terrorism. Therefore, we want the composite dialogue to be resumed because the terrorists are benefiting from the situation," Gilani said.

"If we do not talk to each other, terrorists will benefit," he told reporters on the sidelines of an official function in the southern port city of Karachi. India put the composite dialogue on hold in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks in November last year.

New Delhi has linked the resumption of peace talks to Islamabad taking action against the perpetrators of the attacks. Pakistan has acknowledged that the Lashker-e-Taiba carried out the attacks that killed nearly 180 people.

Though seven suspects, including LeT operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, are currently facing trial in an anti-terror court in Rawalpindi, Pakistan has ruled out the arrest or prosecution of LeT founder and Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, a key accused in the Mumbai case.