Terming the Mumbai bomb blasts as a crime against humanity, Pakistan's ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-e-Azam) has said that terrorism in the region could be curbed only if India and Pakistan join hands.
"Whether the act of terrorism is committed in Mumbai or in Karachi, it is a crime against humanity. Unfortunately, both Pakistan and India are victims of terrorism and they can curb terrorists only by joining hands against this enemy of the mankind," PML(Q) secretary general Mushahid Hussain Sayeed was quoted as saying in Islamabad by state-run APP news agency on Monday.
Urging India not to 'derail the peace process in view of the Mumbai blasts,' the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said 'the hawkish elements in the Indian establishment must avoid this temptation to use the Mumbai blasts for Pakistan-bashing.'
'Without any evidence or proof, the hawkish elements in the Indian establishment have already started to reverse some segments of the peace process by cancelling the scheduled foreign secretary-level talks and stopping Indian parliamentarians from attending a Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Pakistan,' he said.
"This would be an unfortunate development since the people of the two countries have been involved in the peace process as well as Confidence Building Measures which were painstakingly pursued by leaders of both the countries with support of the peoples of the two countries," the PML(Q) senator said.
"The reversal of the peace process by India is disappointing and is contrary to the interest of peace, stability and security of South Asia as well as the aspirations of the people of Pakistan and India," Sayed said.
He said India should realise that any attempt at action replay of December 2001, would be 'counter-productive.' The only way forward, he said, is the path of dialogue so that the positive regional environment for bilateral normalisation is not reversed by this 'impulsive knee-jerk reaction of the Indian establishment.'
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