October 25, 2008	Saturday	Shawwal 25, 1429

BEIJING, Oct 24: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh pledged on Friday to work together for combating the menace of terrorism.

The two leaders first had a five-minute meeting along with their aides and later had one-to-one talks that lasted for about 20 minutes. The meeting took place in the Great Hall of the People on the sidelines of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit.

At a briefing, the two described their interaction as useful and said there was willingness on both sides to address their common problems.

They said terrorism was a common threat to the two countries.

Prime Minister Gilani said the two countries needed to focus on fighting poverty, hunger and illiteracy to improve the socio-economic life of their peoples.

The terrorism, he said, was a common enemy affecting their economic progress. He reiterated that Pakistan was against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

“We are in total agreement to fight this menace jointly,” he said.

Referring to current financial crisis, he said that both the countries were sailing in the same boat and prepared to cooperate with each other to face it.

The matter was also discussed threadbare at the ASEM’s level, he said.Prime Minister Singh said the two countries were committed to moving forward in a positive manner for resolving their disputes through composite dialogue.

He said Prime Minister Gilani had invited his attention to Pakistan’s serious concerns over the issue of Baglihar Dam.

Mr Singh said he had assured Prime Minister Gilani that the Indian government would take all possible steps for implementing the relevant agreement in letter and in spirit.

To a question, he said that water dispute would not be allowed to affect the peace process.

“We want to seriously work on resolving this issue,” he added.

During the talks, the two leaders also discussed the possibility of enhancing bilateral trade and business contacts.

Prime Minister Singh mentioned the opening of the Line of Control for trade, saying it was a good step forward to promoting business activities.

Mr Singh hoped that there would be positive outcome of their negotiations.—APP