Took up issue of normalising trade to transform ties with India: Yousuf Raza Gilani

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's current administration took up the issue of normalising trade with India, which previous governments had been unwilling to touch, as part of measures to transform ties between the two countries, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said.

"Normalising trade with India has been an issue that no previous government wanted to touch, but we decided to look at this issue from a purely national and regional perspective," Gilani said.

Describing Pakistan's relationship with India as "stable and peaceful", Gilani told a convocation ceremony at the National Defence University yesterday: "We have tried to transform this relationship by approaching it in a positive rather than in a traditional manner".

The premier said Islamabad had "resumed full dialogue" with New Delhi and is discussing "all issues including Siachen, Sir Creek, counter-terrorism, water issues, and the most important of all, the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir".

Gilani said there was now greater emphasis on nuclear strategy and conflict resolution after the "nuclearisation of both Pakistan and India".

India and Pakistan resumed their dialogue process last year after a gap of over two years in the wake of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, which were blamed on the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terror group.

Since then, the two sides have taken a series of steps, especially in trade, to put their relations on an even keel.