ISLAMABAD, Feb 7: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Saturday the Mumbai attacks hurt Pakistan as much as they had hurt India, and slammed the “vilification campaign” against Islamabad.

Speaking at the Munich Young Leaders’ roundtable on security policy, the foreign minister said: “Unfortunately, India refused to accept our sincere overtures and started a vilification campaign against Pakistan, not realising that Mumbai was as much a blow to Pakistan as it was to India.”

Mr Qureshi said on the sidelines of the Munich Security Dialogue organised by the Koerber-Stiftung Foundation that India’s belligerent response to the Mumbai attacks had thrown the Pakistan-India peace process “back to square one”.

Highlighting Pakistan’s efforts to re-establish trust and confidence, Mr Qureshi said India’s cooperation was necessary for the success of its own investigation into the Mumbai attacks.

The foreign minister dispelled fears about security of Pakistan’s nuclear assets and said: “Let me assure you that despite the threat of extremism and terrorism … Pakistan’s nuclear assets are in safe hands and … we have instituted a foolproof mechanism for their control.”

Reiterating Pakistan’s stand against terrorism, Mr Qureshi said: “We will not allow our territory to be used by terrorists and we will not be daunted by terrorists’ threats.” —APP