Breaking his silence on the Indian Premier League (IPL) controversy, the Pakistan Prime Minister, Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, in his first interview to an Indian news channel since the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, said that a “people-to-people contact (was required) at all levels” for normalisation of relations.
Speaking to CNN-IBN in Islamabad, Gilani when asked whether there had been a downturn in Indo-Pak relations after the IPL auction, said, “That’s the mood of the Parliament and the public and we have to follow their point of view as well…with time things will be alright.”
On whether cricket meant a lot to the people of the two countries, the PM replied, “I agree. There has always been cricket diplomacy even in the past…we need people-to-people contact at all levels.”