New Delhi, December 12
Emphasising that war was not an option for the two countries, Pakistan's Punjab province Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif tonight called for cooperation between India and Pakistan to combat terrorism and stamp it out from the region.

"Pakistan itself is a victim of militancy and terrorism. We strongly condemn all shades of militancy,'' he said after a series of meetings during the course of the day.

Shahbaz was quite evasive when asked about the anti-India activities of JuD chief and Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed. The institutions run by the JuD had been taken over by the Punjab province government which was also responsible for running them now, he merely stated. Shahbaz, the younger brother of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, arrived here this morning as a guest of his Punjab counterpart Parkash Singh Badal to witness the World Kabaddi final in Ludhiana on Saturday.

Accompanied by a high-level delegation, Shahbaz called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to deliver a message from the Pakistan Premier, renewing Islamabad's invitation to the Indian leader to visit Pakistan at an early date.

On whether the PM had accepted the invite, the Pakistani leader said: "He appreciated the sentiments expressed by the Pakistan PM …let's hope he visits Pakistan.'' He said Singh had raised the issue of recent 'disturbances along the LoC' during the meeting. Shahbaz said he had told the Indian leader that Pakistan favoured a peaceful and early resolution of issues like Siachen, Sir Creek, water and Kashmir through talks between the two nations.

Shahbaz, who is considered No 2 in the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML), was hopeful that the DGMOs of India and Pakistan would meet as early as possible to ensure peace and tranquility along the LoC. "War is not an option but brushing our problems under the carpet is also not an option…like intelligent and prudent nations, we should resolve issues between us,'' he said.