Gilani favours talks; says India, Pak cannot afford 'war'

Pushing for resumption of Indo-Pak dialogue, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani today said his country and India should not be held "hostage to one incident" of 26/11 and should hold talks since both the countries cannot "afford war".

Noting that things were "stuck" after the Mumbai terror attacks, he said "1.25 billion people should not be made hostage to one incident. If we are hostage to one incident then the beneficiaries are terrorists and therefore we should move ahead....

"I think dialogue is the only answer. We are both responsible nations and we can move forward. We can't afford war. I think only way forward is talks."

Describing his meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Sharm el-Sheikh as "very good", Gilani told CNN-IBN in an interview that both of them "had understanding that we both are suffering from terrorism."

"Things are stuck with the Mumbai incident, the matter is already sub-judice with the courts. We certainly condemn terrorism and believe that neither India nor Pakistan soil should be used against each other....There are 101 Mumbai-like incidents in Pakistan after that (26/11)," he said.

Gilani also denied his country's involvement in the recent spate of attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.

"There had been some irresponsible statements from the Army Chief of India. There is a tension because of that and at the same time that is an indigenous movement in Kashmir that is not anything to do with Pakistan."