Islamabad: Pakistan and India will have to join hands to fight terrorism, leaving behind their traditional animosity, a Pakistani intelligence official said.
"India should not think that terrorism in Pakistan and Afghanistan will not affect it. The situation in Pakistan will definitely affect India in coming years if we don't work together to fight against militancy," a top official at the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) told Gulf News on Wednesday in Islamabad, hours before terrorists struck in Mumbai, India.
In a briefing at ISI headquarters, the official, who requested anonymity, said the realisation was dawning that there could be no peace in India without peace in the region.
"Peace in Pakistan and Afghanistan will ensure peace in India as well," he said.
"Feelings of animosity are gradually receding between both countries [Pakistan and India] and we are moving towards more cordial relations," he said.
The official said that rather than being focused on any threat posed by India, Pakistani forces were tied up in combating terrorism - the real threat in the region.
"However, we cannot shut our eyes completely to the activities of Indian forces along the border", he added.
"Terrorism is going to spread if we don't fight it together," he said.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani government has condemned the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, calling them "barbaric."
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who went to India on a four day visit on Wednesday, said that he was shocked and horrified by the attacks in Mumbai.
Noting a spate of recent attacks in Pakistan, Qureshi said civilised societies had to work together to combat terrorism.
