Chandigarh, November 27
Pakistan’s foreign minister Makhdhoom Shah Mahmood Quereshi today said his country would cooperate with Indian authorities investigating the terror strikes in Mumbai. He condemned the action as ‘barbaric’ and ‘inhuman’.

The minister, who was here to attend an international conference at the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID) here, claimed it was too early to jump to conclusion that the perpetrators of the terror strikes originated from Pakistan. When questioned about the Maharashtra police claim that a boat from Karachi had been used to bring the explosives, he said, “Did you see the boat. Could you travel in a boat to Karachi”?

Qureshi when asked about Lashkar-e-Toiba hand in the blasts said “I have not heard anyone make such a remark”. He said experience had shown that there was need to act with caution. “We often jump to conclusions and cut a sorry figure later”, he said referring to the Samjhauta train blast case in which he said later investigations did not support allegations of Pakistani hand behind the terror strike.

The minister also called for setting up a hotline between the national security advisers of both Pakistan and India so that vital information needed to support each could be exchanged quickly. He said intelligence chiefs of both countries should also be in direct contact with each so that the joint anti terror mechanism established between the two countries could be more “active and meaningful”.

Calling terrorism a global phenomenon and not a regional one, he said it must be fought globally too. He said Pakistan had suffered both human and economic losses because of terrorism and even now its troops were fighting terrorism on a daily basis in tribal areas. He said in his talks with external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee yesteday he had stressed the need to join hands and pool resources to deal with the menace.

Claiming that his heart went out to the families who had lost their near and dear ones, he said “people of India knew that we too suffered a similar attack in Islamabad at Marriott hotel recently”.

Chandigarh, November 27
Pakistan foreign minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi today said he had come to turn the tide and make India and Pakistan friends. He pleaded both countries should not go in for knee- jerk reactions to unsettle relations.

The minister, speaking at an international seminar on ‘Cooperative Development, Peace and Security in South Asia’at the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID) here, said achieving peace in the region was not only desirable but also doable. “We are fortunate that at this time political leadership in both countries, across the board, wants peaceful cooperative relationship between our two countries”, he said.

Qureshi said all political parties in Pakistan, Parliament and the elected government desired to improve relations with India. “We must avail of this political consensus”, he said adding a democratic Pakistan was the best insurance against conflict in the region.

Speaking on contentious issues between the two countries, he said the resolution of Jammu and Kashmir issue was important. “The solution to the problem has to be found through the collective political will of the leaderships of Pakistan and India in accordance with the wishes of the people of Jammu and Kashmir”, he said.

Qureshi said both India and Pakistan were spending enormous amounts of money on maintaining their troops in Siachen. He said both countries also felt resolution of the issue of Sir Creek was not difficult. “I believe we need to move forward on these resolvable issues”, he added.

The minister said Pakistan would also like to see forward movement on the issue of Chenab water. He said the Indus water commissioners held a meeting in New Delhi last month and were expected to visit Pakistan soon. “We welcome the statements at the highest level in New Delhi that India would honour the Indus Waters Treaty in letter and spirit”.

Qureshi said Pakistan-India economic cooperation had progressed at satisfactory pace. He said bilateral trade, which was around $ 300 million in 2002, had crossed $ 1.98 billion now. He said commerce secretaries of both countries would be meeting soon for talks on promoting economic cooperation under the composite dialogue process.

Speaking on the agriculture front, he said a cooperative relationship between the farmers and agriculture- related institutes of the two countries in the fields of research; education and agriculture extension could be mutually beneficial. He invited CRRID and the Farmers Association of Pakistan to work together to identify possible areas for economic and commercial cooperation in the agriculture sector.