Why Gilani is man of peace for Manmohan Singh

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It was a day of quotes for journalists covering the 17th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit here, Addu, Maldives.

First to break the ice was Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik who sprang a surprise by saying Ajmal Amir Kasab, convicted by an Indian court for the 26/11 terror attack, should be hanged, but hedged on the release of Hafiz Saeed, the suspected mastermind of Mumbai terror, saying more legal evidence is required.

'You should be hanging Kasab'

"Kasab is a terrorist, a non-state actor who should go to gallows and his accomplices too. So should perpetrators of the Samjhauta Express blast," said Malik, after the delegation-level talks led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani here.

However, Malik hedged on the release of Hafiz Saeed, the founder of Jamaat-ud-Dawa and suspected mastermind of the Mumbai siege and cited intricacies of the judicial system.

"He was bailed out by the highest court of Pakistan and the government can't do anything about it," he said.

"A list of banned organisations was issued before Id and there was no credible evidence that Jamat ud Dawa was working otherwise," he added. "India should give us more evidence," he said.

'A man of peace'

Another quote of note was Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's praise for his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani, describing him as a 'man of peace'

The line attracted a lot of attention, with New Delhi even clarifying that the assessment was made on basis of the frequent meetings between the two leaders.

The prime minister's assessment was based on frequent meetings he had with Gilani, Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai told reporters when asked why Manmohan Singh described Gilani as 'man of peace' at a joint press conference the two leaders held after their talks on Thursday.

The nature of talks he has had with Gilani supported this assessment, Mathai said.

Manmohan Singh's pursuit of peace with Pakistan and the resonance he finds in his talks with Gilani to strengthen the relationship explains it, said Mathai.

Manmohan Singh and Gilani have met four times in the past 30 months, including their meetings in Sharm el Sheikh on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement summit in July 2009 and in Thimphu on the margins of the SAARC summit in April 2010.

Gilani accepted Manmohan Singh's invitation to watch the World Cup semifinal in Mohali in India's Punjab in March.

In their meeting in the Maldives on the margins of the SAARC summit here on Thursday, both leaders struck an optimistic note and vowed to open a new chapter in their bilateral relations.