Pak for 'dialogue' to end violence in Kashmir

Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday criticised the 'killing' of people during protests in Jammu and Kashmir and asked the Indian government to hold a dialogue with the Kashmiris to end violence.

"I condemn the killing of Kashmiri people and it should be stopped. The Indian government should hold dialogue with the Kashmiris to resolve the issue," he said while interacting with a group of journalists at his residence in Islamabad.

Gilani said the Indian government should not use force as dialogue was the best option under the current circumstances. His comments came a day after 17 people, including a policeman, were killed and over 70 injured in violence that erupted when mobs torched government properties and a school in Jammu and Kashmir.

The premiers comments followed Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi criticism of what he described as the use of blatant violence by Indian security forces against the Kashmiri people.

Qureshi asked India to exercise restraint and to work to find a solution to the Kashmir dispute. Replying to a question from a reporter on the resumption of peace talks with India, Gilani said there was no other way to remove misunderstandings but dialogue.

"War is no solution," he said. Gilani also said that his government, unlike the regime of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, was committed to the war on terror.

Musharraf played a 'double game' in the name of the war on terror, he said. "The whole nation is united against terrorists and there has not been a single politician that supports them," he said.

Gilani said conspiracies against democracy would not succeed as democracy was the only way to move forward. "Any other form of the government will be disastrous for the country," he said.

Some quarters, Gilani said, had told him that the time of his government was over and he been given 'bonus time.' He added: "But I want to make it clear that my government will complete its tenure."

In response to another question, he said Pakistan might not need drone technology from the United States as it would soon develop its own unmanned spy planes.