RAWALPINDI, May 5: Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali on Monday ruled out the chance of immediate talks with his Indian counterpart, saying holding of prime ministerial level talks might take some time.
Talking to reporters at village Dheedwal, where he had gone to attend a marriage ceremony, the prime minister said though ice had melted, still a lot of spadework was needed to be done before talks at the highest level could be held.
He said as a first step conditions would be made conducive for holding meaningful talks at the ministerial and diplomatic level.
The prime minister said nation needed to show patience as all matters with India would be settled through negotiations in due course of time.
He said the government had started consulting political leaders to take them into confidence about the developments relating to India.
He said all parties would be consulted in this regard so that the government entered into bilateral talks with India with full backing of the nation.
The prime minister said he had already talked to the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal leaders Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Maulana Fazlur Rehman on the issue. He said suggestions put forward by political leaders would be given full consideration.
To a question regarding talks with the opposition on the Legal Framework Order, Mr Jamali said he was optimistic that all outstanding issues would be resolved and a draft package would be ready by May 15.
Earlier, speaking at a gathering in the village, Mr Jamali said the major objective of his government was to change the political culture. He said the change had already set in. He said his government was committed to keeping the country ahead of all other considerations and its slogan was “Pakistan first”.
