He ruled out the possibility of Pakistan and India going to war, saying “democracies do not go to war”. The three wars India and Pakistan have fought took place during dictatorships in Pakistan, he said.

Zardari called for a joint investigation to look into the problem in the larger context. “The threat is in the region and just not to Bombay or to India. The threat (also is) to the State of Pakistan. There’s a threat to Afghanistan, It’s a threat throughout region. So that would be counterproductive,” he added.

“I’m a victim. The state of Pakistan is a victim. We are the victims of this war, and I am sorry for the Indians, and I feel sorry for them. I’ve seen this pain. I feel this pain every time I see my children. I can see it in their eyes. This pain lives with me because of my wife and what we are going through in Pakistan,” he said.

Asked whether the Lashkar was involved in the attacks, he replied that it is a banned organisation around the

world. “If indeed they are involved, we would not know.”

These are the people who operate outside the system like the Al-Qaeda, he said, and Pakistan has offered full cooperation to India in investigating the incident. Asked if the al-Qaeda may be involved, Zardari said: “We cannot rule anything out at the moment.” Zardari promised to take action if India produced evidence of complicity of any Pakistani group, and said they were looking into the allegations “thrown at us from across the border”.

... contd.