Pakistan must be included in Afghanistan talks: PM
When asked about the trilateral summit on Afghanistan, recently held in Turkey, Gilani said that Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar would brief the media on Saturday (today). He did, however, emphasise that Pakistan wanted a stable, prosperous, sovereign and peaceful Afghanistan.
“Pakistan has given sacrifices and is directly affected by Afghanistan so if whosoever tries to exclude it (Pakistan), we will not accept them,” the PM said. Gilani added that all stakeholders, including the military, political forces and the whole nation, are on same page in this regard.
Asked if it is possible for Afghanistan and Pakistan to jointly investigate the assassination of Burhanuddin Rabbani, president of the Afghan Peace Committee, Gilani said that Pakistan and Afghanistan have a joint mechanism already in place.
PM expected PTI rally
Gilani claimed he was not surprised by the large turnout for Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party in Lahore. He said the numbers were an indication of dissatisfaction with the Punjab government.
Gilani also said that Khan’s demands that politicians declare assets were misguided, as politicians submitted their papers before elections. The PM said that Khan was a good human being – but a newcomer to politics.
‘Go Zardari Go’ movement criticised
Gilani said that legal avenues are available to all those who have an issue with the president. Referring specifically to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s tactics, he said they were desperate to hold on to their power and remain the opposition party in the centre and the dominant party in Punjab. He reiterated his position that if the PML-N resigns en masse from Parliament, by-elections will be held.
Despite suffering from the flu, Gilani was forthright in his view that no members, even those from the PML-N, wanted to resign before the general election, which he said will be held in 2013.
Powering the future
Gilani also spoke about power solutions. Pakistan, he said, will receive 500MW from India, with the possibility of a further 1000 MW from Iran. Although agreements have been made, building pipelines will take some time, the PM added, before making a dig at opposition parties which had tried to topple the government on the load-shedding issue.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 5th, 2011.
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Dear Pakistanis
Your PM should learn to command respect and not demand. If Afgans do not want your presence then let them live in peace. You can't forcefully make them agree to your strategic miscalculations. Your problem is that you think Pakistan will be surrounded by adverse enemies like India if Afgans do not cater to your security concerns. What security concerns you have? On this date nobody wants to visit Pakistan as BBC has declared you an official player of double game. Only people who want to come to Pakistan are those who want a Masters Degree or a Phd in the art of deception , brinkmanship. TTE ( terrorism trainer & exporter) , nuclear bomb formulas, match fixing , printing of foreign currency especially INR, drugs smuggling etc. As a sovereign state you have taken enough advantage in international arena in playing dubious games. I ask one question have you any self respect left in you people. Why don't you tell your army and govt that enough is enough. That you people are tired of this nonsense and want to live a good life where you are sure that your loved ones are safe in your own land. Frankly speaking each action of your govt makes you more vulnerable. I see Imran Khan as one such fellow who seem to have guts to take on the tormentors of Pakistani reputation. Wake up is the call to all Pakistanis otherwise the day is not far when even your passports would carry no weightage as already lots of embassies put Pakistan on a negative list. Sorry to say but above all is truth which is hard to digest. So Mr Gilani first learn to command respect then demand. Set your country in order and you only have fake security concerns. As nobody cares what you have to say at international level.
@amin: *"@straighttalk @ playfulguise. did india ever take thousands of pakistanis as refugees?" Yes, India did - in 1971- 10 million of them.
"... but what iam trying to say that stability of afghanistan is must for pakistan." Stability of any neighour is a must for any country. Does that mean that country has the right to gatecrash in into the internal affairs of that neighour and demand that its views be taken into consideration? If we were to go with your theory, India would have every right to demand a say in the formation of governments of its neighours. India, like any civilized nation, has scrupulously stayed away from such idiotic enterprise, in Nepal, Bangla Desh or Sri Lanka or Pakistan.
@straighttalk @ playfulguise.
did india ever take thousands of pakistanis as refugees? well they werent any pakistani refugees but what iam trying to say that stability of afghanistan is must for pakistan. we have crippled our economy in the past because of refugees . we do not want an unstable government there and more refugees and terrorism here.
Ask the Afghans whether they want Pakistan in ? Does a common man on the streets of Kabul want Pakistan in ? Mr Gilani must answer this ?
Mr. PM what is so misguided about Imran Khan demand. The people of Pakistan is not looking for just another politican but for an honest leader to take the nation forward since the present political parties have failed. The PTI gathering was a clear message to the politicians that the nation is calling for a change. Watch out !!!!