"Good news" likely soon for people of India and Pakistan, claims Malik

Islamabad, July 13 (ANI): Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik has expressed the hope that people of both India and Pakistan would soon hear "good news", as the two neighbouring countries have chalked out a roadmap to address all the contentious issues pending between them.

In an interview with The News, Malik, who recently held talks with his Indian counterpart P. Chidambaram on the sidelines of the SAARC Interior Minister's Summit here last month, said both countries have decided to fight terrorism together.

"Pakistan, India have prepared a roadmap, and in the coming weeks the people would hear good news, though at this point of time we have agreed not to disclose details of that roadmap and the planning being done to jointly fight out terrorism," Malik said.

Malik's statement has come at a time when all eyes are on the meeting between External Affairs Minister S M Krishna with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi in Islamabad on July 15.

Responding to a question about the Taliban and other militant groups' ever expanding threat in Pakistan, Malik described the various militant organisations as "mercenaries who want to spread Talibanisation" across the country.

"These runaway mercenaries from Swat, Malakand and the tribal belt are engaged in other provinces like the Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan to spread sectarianism, ethnicity in a bid to cripple the society," he said.

Despite terrorists striking at will in Punjab province, which has resulted in the death of scores of innocent civilians, Malik ruled out any military operation in the region.

"I do not think there is a need of military operation in that areas, but there's a necessity to control the movement of such terrorists and their handlers through stringent laws," he said. (ANI)