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This Article is From Oct 31, 2009

Gilani welcomes Singh's offer of talks, says war no solution

Gilani welcomes Singh's offer of talks, says war no solution
Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Saturday said the country saw India's offer of talks "positively," saying solutions to problems between the two countries cannot be found through wars.

Welcoming his counterpart Manmohan Singh's offer of talks with Pakistan, Gilani said, "Wars are not the solution, dialogue is the only solution."

Singh's remarks were an outcome of the meeting between the two premiers at Sharm el-Sheikh in July, when they had agreed that dialogue was the only way to resolve outstanding issues, he said.

"He (Singh) had agreed that there is no other way but dialogue... We see this positively," Gilani told newsmen in the northwestern city of Peshawar, responding to a question on Singh's recent comments.

However, Gilani made it clear that any discussions between the two countries would be positive only if they included "core issues" like Kashmir.

"Till the core issues are resolved, the dream of achieving peace in the region will not be fulfilled," he said.

While extending the offer of talks to Pakistan, Singh had said the dialogue would be productive only if Pakistan took steps to control terrorism emanating from its territory.

Gilani visited Peshawar to take stock of the security situation in the wake of a devastating car bomb attack in a commercial hub that killed nearly 120 people earlier this week.

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