Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has said that "Cricket diplomacy had ended the impasse between India and Pakistan and it was a positive development," and hoped that it would provide further impetus to the efforts for meaningful dialogue between the two countries on all outstanding issues.
The PM said, "Recent Foreign Secretary level talks in Thimphu were a significant breakthrough. Both sides have agreed to resume dialogue on all issues. This holds hope for a meaningful and sustained process of engagement to bridge the trust deficit, resolve all outstanding issues for creating an enabling environment for promoting peace and prosperity in the region as a whole."
Talking to media persons here on Friday he said that Pakistan and India had agreed to examine trading in electricity and petroleum products to bolster their commercial ties at the end of two days of talks on Thursday, as the two countries seek to revive the peace process that was derailed after the 2008 Mumbai attack.
The Prime Minister said that wars do not need to be fought to stop drone attacks, but instead the matter should be dealt with carefully and with clever judgement. He said that Pakistan is a responsible nuclear state and the PPP's stance on the drone attacks is clear. Gilani said that Afghanistan's problems can not be solved without Pakistan's role. He said that the whole country is against terrorism.
The prime minister said that after the suspension of dialogue with India due to the Mumbai attack, relations were now improving and all matters of national interest would be spoken about between the two nations. He said that Pakistan is committed to defeat terrorism and extremism by the support of the people and has rendered more sacrifices than any other country in fighting militancy.
He said this while addressing guests at a dinner hosted by the All Pakistan Bed Sheets and Upholstery Manufacturers Association (APBUMA) at the Services Club here. He said: "Our brave soldiers of the armed forces, police jawans, FC soldiers and personnel from other law enforcement agencies have sacrificed their lives which would not go waste." He added that Pakistan rendered more sacrifices even than the Nato.
Gilani said that defeating extremism and terrorism was a challenge for the country. He said that terrorism was causing damage to the national economy. He added that a single suicide blast means flight of capital and it also discourages new investments. However, he said that no war can be won without support of the masses and Pakistan was winning the fight with the support of the nation.
He said that despite all the challenges confronting the country including terrorism, floods, load shedding and impact of global recession, the national economy was on way to recovery due to prudent policies of the government. He said that it had been agreed upon at the Energy Conference to allow provinces to launch their own power generation projects to overcome power shortage. It was done for the first time in the country's history, he added.
He said that all the chief ministers were present at the conference where it was decided to formulate a policy for scheduled load shedding for convenience of the people. Gilani invited industrialists to set up their own independent power producing plants. He said that the government was fully aware of the importance of agriculture in the national economy and added that growers were given international prices for their commodities.
Prime Minister Gilani said that all the on-going developmental projects would be completed on priority and added that he would perform ground-breaking ceremony of the Motorway Project on his next visit to Multan.
In response to the demands put forward by the APBUMA chief Jalaluddin Roomi, the Prime Minister said that he would give due consideration to them. He announced to provide funding for establishment of a display centre for promotion of power looms industry's products on Khanewal road in Multan and issued instructions to TDAP officials and commissioner of Multan division to take necessary steps in this connection. He also issued orders to facilitate small industry including power looms operations at the industrial estate area Multan.
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