Pak says talks only way forward; seeks resumption of CD

"There should be composite dialogue. Dialogue is the only answer and wars are not the solution," Prime Minister Yousuf Gilani told reporters on the sidelines of an official function in Karachi.

    "Therefore, we want to have talks with India but these should be meaningful and the core issues should be addressed," he said.      Referring to yesterday's Foreign Secretary-level talks between the two countries, Gilani said Pakistan want good relations and friendly ties with India and all its neighbours, including Afghanistan.      Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir, who returned to Pakistan today after his meeting with his Indian counterpart Nirupama Rao, too called for the resumption of the composite dialogue, saying open-ended talks or engagement would not yield any benefits.

Describing his meetings with Rao and External Affairs Minister S M Krishna as "exploratory" in nature, he said Pakistan had presented some proposals for more high-level meetings and a roadmap for taking forward the talks process.
"(The India side) did not reject or accept (this roadmap). Probably they need time," he said.

"We told the Indian side very clearly that Pakistan believes it is necessary to resume the composite dialogue as soon as possible," Bashir said at the Wagha border after crossing over from India.

"There will be no benefit from an open-ended dialogue. If we hold talks without any agenda or with an open agenda it will have some benefits but we cannot take any firm steps to move forward," he told reporters.

Pakistan believes that if the composite dialogue is "revived from where it was left off, it would be a big confidence-building and trust-building measure," Bashir said.
At the same time, he said, there is a need for India to "revisit" its position of focussing solely on terrorism and the 2008 Mumbai attacks in talks and blaming Pakistan for all its problems.

"This negative perception of Pakistan is not based on facts. We told them this very clearly. They should revisit facts as terrorism is a world and regional issue. Don't blame everything on Pakistan," Bashir said.