Gilani says poppy cultivation in Afghanistan causing conflict in Pak

Islamabad, May. 1 (ANI): Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has said that poppy cultivation and drug trafficking in Afghanistan are the main cause of terrorism menace in Pakistan. Gilani urged the NATO and ISAF to effectively deal with poppy cultivation, which still remains the main source of funding for extremists and terrorist elements.

"This has led to exporting numerous problems to Pakistan and stressed that the elimination of poppy cultivation is the key for defeating the menace of terrorism in the region," The News quoted Gilani, as saying.

Gilani was talking to an eight-member delegation of the British Select Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Commons headed by Mike Capes.

On the UK Policy on Afghanistan and Pakistan, Gilani urged for careful examination and further clarifications of the policy.

"The policy acknowledges Pakistan's position that military option alone cannot resolve the problems of insecurity, insurgency and terrorism while placing emphasis on the development dimension which his government has been advocating since long," he said.

He stressed that the policy must also recognize that the problems faced by Pakistan today are rooted in decades old conflict in Afghanistan. Pakistan and Afghanistan have distinctly different political and institutional traditions and hence they must not be bracketed together for finding solutions of the problems faced by them, he added.

Gilani urged the British parliamentarians to not deport the arrested Pakistani students in UK, as no evidence was found against them.

He also demanded them to play their role in ensuring that the people of Pakistani origin are not discriminated against in any way. (ANI)