Prime Minister Gilani said the incident was a “turning point” and it created a bad taste. He said prior to the attack there had been a number of other incidents that had already strained ties between the two countries to a large extent.
He said the Defence Committee of the Cabinet decided to define new terms of engagements and it was decided to cut off the NATO supply lines, get the Shamsi base vacated and boycotted the Bonn Conference.
He said the Pakistan’s parliament would be defining new terms of engagement and hoped the new terms would be more productive and lasting.
To a question, Gilani said under the earlier policy, the former President Musharraf took all decisions without taking the people of Pakistan into confidence.
“If there is no support of the public, no one can win a war,” the Prime Minister said.
About the drone strikes, Gilani said Pakistan was against the “illegal and counter productive” drone strikes along the areas bordering Afghanistan.
He said Pakistan has conveyed its concerns to the United States of America in this regard and wishes to settle all issues, as a responsible country, and discuss everything diplomatically.
The Prime Minister said the strikes create sympathy for the victims amongst the population that we are trying to lure away from extremism, while at the same time it lessens space for the government to continue operations against terrorist elements.
He said Pakistan has already made huge sacrifices as it has lost over 30,000 civilians and 5,000 military personnel, besides incurring heavily at the economic front.
Gilani said Pakistan was paying the heavy price for peace, progress and prosperity of the entire world.
When asked about the presence of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, the Prime Minister said “it was the failure of the intelligence agencies of the whole world.”
To a question about the Swiss hostages in Pakistan, Gilani said the government was doing all for their safe recovery and the Swiss Ambassador in Pakistan was constantly in touch with the intelligence agencies of the country.
To a question by an Indian journalist, that if there is another Mumbai style attack, Gilani said “ifs and when do not make a story”.
“We have resumed comprehensive dialogue with India,” he said and mentioned his visit to Mohali to see Cricket World Cup semi-final at the invitation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
“We are in the process of normalizing trade relations with India which will benefit the people of both the countries.”
Gilani said Pakistan attached importance to its relations with Afghanistan and a peaceful and stable Afghanistan was in the strategic interest of Pakistan.
“We see Pakistan as a factor of peace, stability and development in the region,” Gilani said and added that Pakistan desires good relations with all its neighbours and if India has any information it can share it with Pakistan.
He termed Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh a “genuine person” and said he too was desirous of resolving all issues with Pakistan, including the core issue of Kashmir.
He said Pakistan was actively engaged with its partners in SAARC and ECO for promoting economic cooperation and sharing prosperity among the regional countries. Prime Minister Gilani pointed to the challenges the country faced.
“We have to eradicate terrorism from its roots, we have to create more jobs for our young people, we have to invest in energy and physical infrastructure and to pay more attention to health and education,” the Prime Minister said and added,”We are facing all these challenges upfront and squarely.”
He said Pakistan today was a functioning democracy with a fully empowered parliament. “We have a vibrant civil society, free media and an independent judiciary,” he said.
Prime Minister Gilani said his government has been pursuing a policy of reconciliation with other political forces in the country. He said reconciliation in fact was the legacy of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, who sacrificed her life for democracy and rights of downtrodden in the society.
“Our policy of reconciliation has resulted in the adoption of land mark 18th Amendment by consensus in both Houses of the Parliament,” the Prime Minister said.
Prime Minister Gilani said Pakistan had immense potential and was endowed with an array of assets, the most important of which was its young population.
Gilani said Pakistan was at the confluence of South, Central and West Asia and provided a natural land bridge and energy corridor between energy rich and fastest growing economies of the world.
He said under the 18th Constitutional Amendment, the President has voluntarily surrendered his powers to the Parliament and the Federation has agreed to transfer resources and responsibilities to the
provinces.
He said it could rightly be described as a quiet revolution towards building a strong and prosperous Pakistan.
The Prime Minister said despite weak international economic outlook, Pakistan’s economy has been doing reasonably well.
He mentioned unprecedented floods of 2010 and said these were followed by devastating flood in southern parts of the country in 2011.
“We are confident that with unmatched resilience of our people we shall emerge stronger from these challenges,” Gilani said.
He said Pakistan had friendly relationship with the EU countries which were its largest trading partners and pointed out that Pakistan was in the process of concluding a five-year engagement plan with the European Union (EU).
Pakistan and U.S. have longstanding friendly relations and both the countries understand the importance of this relationship.
“In the light of recent events, we are reviewing our relations to build a long term relationship on the basis of mutual respect, trust and interest,” Gilani said.
Prime Minister Gilani, in response to a question, said peace and stability were vital for progress and prosperity of the entire region.
He said Pakistan has very good ties with its neighbours and mentioned the relations with India and Afghanistan. He said his country was willing to jointly work with India to take action against the extremists who were the joint enemies of both the countries.
He said similarly with Afghanistan his government has a tripartite agreement that covers, political, intelligence and military sharing to help counter the extremist and terrorist elements.
Gilani regretted the November 2011 incident at the Pak Afghan border in which 24 soldiers were killed and said new rules of engagements were being defined.
“One thing is certain we need stability in region and want to be friendly with India and Afghanistan.”
The Prime Minister said the large sacrifices that the country has rendered would go a long way in bringing lasting peace to the entire region.
About ties with India, he said Pakistan wants better relations with its neighbour, and mentioned that he had met the Indian Prime Minister on several occasions and it was time that they build some Confidence Building Measures that yield some result, and all core issues are resolved.
When asked whether Pakistan would consider having a trilateral arrangement with India and Afghanistan, Gilani said such arrangement can be looked into, but at a later stage.
To a question about the challenges to Pakistan and its relations with the US that now wishes to conduct business on a case to case basis, Gilani said Pakistan really respects the United States, knows its importance and wants to work as partners on mutual respect and understanding. “We want friendship on permanent basis.”
He said Pakistan desires a permanent solution that has the nod of the people of Pakistan, through its parliament. He said without the support of the public, the country cannot move forward.
Gilani to a question said Gilgit Baltistan was an important part of Pakistan and the government has given its people empowerment and given them rights to elect their own Chief Minister and Governor.
He said the Attaabad lake issue was being resolved and urgent steps are being taken to restore the Karakoram Highway between Pakistan and China.
Earlier representatives from various companies appreciated the business friendly atmosphere and said the media gives only one side of the story and urged that it should also project the positive side of Pakistan.
Representative from Nestle said his company would be looking after the issue of malnutrition in Pakistan and urged other companies to follow suit. He expressed the belief that Pakistan’s economic fundamentals were good.
The head of Metro group in Pakistan said they were in agreement with the Habib Group and see a very strong future in the country and its ten stores were doing very well.
He mentioned the local Pakistani products that can be exported and can be traced back to the very farmers. He said their company had spent US 200 million dollars and looks forward to a very bright future.
The representative of the Telenor Group said telecommunications were one of the very important areas and said they have invested over US 2 billion dollars in the country.
He said telecom sector had invested heavily into the local market and created a huge employment base. He said they have 10 million regular customers who use the service for transfer of funds.
He said good platforms for investment have been created and said his company was ready to expand into the 3G world.
The representative of the Pepsi said it was the sixth largest beverage in Pakistan and was now into the food business. She said 60,000 tones of potato were now being used in the local market and were also being exported.
A representative of Unilever said Pakistan was one of the “hidden gems” for investment and appreciated the Pakistani manpower, the tax regime and investment friendly country that needs to be fully exploited.(APP)
