In an interaction with media persons here on the sidelines of the ongoing annual World Economic Forum, Gilani said "I don't think there will be a coup in Pakistan, ever. There is no threat to democracy." Gilani said no state institution, military or the people of Pakistan wanted a coup, all were in favour of democracy.
To a question about the Swiss hostages in Pakistan, Gilani said the government was doing all for their safe recovery and the Swiss Ambassador in Pakistan was constantly in touch with the intelligence agencies of the country.
Relations with India on the mend
To a question by an Indian journalist, that if there is another Mumbai style attack, Gilani said "’ifs’ and ‘when’ do not make a story".
"We have resumed comprehensive dialogue with India," as he recalled his visit to Mohali, India to see the Cricket World Cup semi-final at the invitation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
"We are in the process of normalising trade relations with India which will benefit the people of both the countries."
On the role of Pakistan in the region, Gilani said "we see Pakistan as a factor of peace, stability and development in the region," Gilani said and added that Pakistan desires good relations with all its neighbours and if India has any information it can share it with Pakistan.
Gilani said Pakistan was at the confluence of South, Central and West Asia and provided a natural land bridge and energy corridor between energy rich and fastest growing economies of the world.
He termed Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh a "genuine person" and said he too was desirous of resolving all issues with Pakistan, including the core issue of Kashmir.
He said Pakistan was actively engaged with its partners in SAARC and ECO for promoting economic cooperation and sharing prosperity among the regional countries.
Challenges facing Pakistan need to be tackled
Prime Minister Gilani pointed to the challenges the country faced. "We have to eradicate terrorism from its roots, we have to create more jobs for our young people, we have to invest in energy and physical infrastructure and to pay more attention to health and education," the Prime Minister said and added, "We are facing all these challenges upfront and squarely."
He said Pakistan today was a functioning democracy with a fully empowered parliament. "We have a vibrant civil society, free media and an independent judiciary," he said.
Prime Minister Gilani said his government has been pursuing a policy of reconciliation with other political forces in the country. "Our policy of reconciliation has resulted in the adoption of land mark 18th Amendment by consensus in both Houses of the Parliament," the Prime Minister said.
He said that Pakistan had immense potential and was endowed with an array of assets, the most important of which was its large young population.
He said under the 18th Constitutional Amendment, the President has voluntarily surrendered his powers to the Parliament and the Federation has agreed to transfer resources and responsibilities to the provinces.
He said it could rightly be described as a quiet revolution towards building a strong and prosperous Pakistan.
The Prime Minister said despite weak international economic outlook, Pakistan's economy has been doing reasonably well.
He mentioned unprecedented floods of 2010 and said these were followed by devastating flood in southern parts of the country in 2011.
"We are confident that with unmatched resilience of our people we shall emerge stronger from these challenges," Gilani said.
He said Pakistan had friendly relationship with the EU countries which were its largest trading partners and pointed out that Pakistan was in the process of concluding a five-year engagement plan with the European Union (EU).
COMMENTS (12)
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PM should not talk like this. Rather he should tell the world what can be done to prevent any future military takeover. Democracy is in its infancy and military still commands a lot of unlawful authority.
Also all the political parties must draft and make public now, that if any military take over takes place that would trigger a united opposition from the political parties automatically. When there was a military dictatorship, politicians came up with charter of democracy. Now when there is apparently civilian rule they should chalk out their contingency plan against any military takeover under any circumstances.
The Army are not stupid to take over considering the current state of the Nation, where no institution is functional, nor is there anything left in the Treasury and the current levels of debts are simply unmanageable !!! So there is no incentive for them to take over !!!
whom they are telling on daily basis there is no chance of coup??? True at the moment but actually they are the one who will trigger a coup.
Our generals are always ready to stage a coup but they always get failed winning a War. It's business and political army from top to toe and responsible for instability in the country and entire region.
Great to see the elected govt coming out in the open and start working for the people of Pakistan instead of being under the threat all the time. Let us implement some policies for the real people and their benefits. We need to cut the non productive expenses from the budget and spend money for education, healthcare, electricity, roads and other civic needs.
There is no guarantee that military coup will never takes place in Pakistan.
Thinking on these lines is similar to living in fool's paradise.
Now that democracy is safe would you please move on and work for the betterment of people?
A coup can happen in the pursuit of democracy as well. Anyone tired of corrupt governments?
Yes, take that, you 'awaam', always crying out for a coup. We've got the big bad US of A on our side and ain't nothing you pathetic 'awaam' can do anything about it.
'Gilani says “we see Pakistan as a factor of peace, stability and development in the region,” but Sir according to a reputed newspaper in Pakistan - ET's Editorial of today, it states 'military has a de facto dominance in the state that goes against the spirit of the Constitution and prevents civilian responses to foreign policy problems that crop up at regional and global levels.' So Sir should not it be the establishment who should to saying this.