LAHORE- Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani says the US should hold talks with Pakistan to work out an exit strategy from the war-torn country. He says Afghanistan should also be included in these talks. The prime minister said this in an interview to Waqt TV. He said an independent and sovereign Afghanistan was in Pakistans interest. The prime minister made it clear that Pakistan would not like to be left alone as had been done after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. The vacuum created then had been filled by militants, a situation Pakistan would not like to emerge this time. About cooperation between Pakistan and the US, the prime minister said intelligence sharing was going on. He said the US should not carry out operations unilaterally. Defeat or win, the prime minister said both countries should jointly conduct operations. About the capture and killing of Osama Bin laden, he said it could not be called Pakistans failure. In fact, he said, it was the failure of the entire world. In his opinion when the US had got information about Osamas presence in Abbottabad, it should have shared the information with Pakistan and carried out a joint operation. The prime minister said information about the presence of some high value target in Pakistan should be shared. Likewise, if an operation was required, it should be carried out jointly. He disbelieved a statement attributed to his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh that Pakistan should forget the Kashmir dispute. I think his statement has been distorted and reported out of context. The prime minister said he had held several meetings with Mr Singh and this is the first time that he has admitted that disengaging with Pakistan after the Mumbai talks was a great mistake. The Indian premier, he said, had also stated that he was willing to resolve all outstanding issues through talks. Already, the prime minister said, senior officials of the two countries had held talks and a meeting of the foreign ministers was also due soon. Theres headway in the talks. And at a time when the negotiations are going on, what has been attributed to Mr Singh is beyond comprehension. Mr Gilani was very critical of the derogatory language the Punjab chief minister used against the PPP government during his recent visit to Britain. He said in the presence of Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, Mian Shahbaz Sharif branded the government corrupt. Whose cause was he pleading (by making such a statement) asked the prime minister. He said he was stunned on hearing what the chief minister had said. Before portraying such a bad image of the government in front of the overseas Pakistanis, the prime minister said the Punjab chief minister must have thought about it carefully. He reminded the PML-N leader that their governments had been dismissed twice on corruption charges. The prime minister said the chief minister should not have defamed the country. Calling grand alliance of opposition parties a non-starter, the prime minister said those behind the initiative would soon come to know how difficult was to form and then run such a coalition. Mr Gilani said the PPP had ample experience of setting up alliances and working in the company of other parties. The PPP has the patience for criticism. About the Karachi situation, the prime minister said the government was determined to restore peace there and would not tolerate any obstacle. Peace in Karachi was important for the entire country, he said. Referring to the economic situation in of the country, Mr Gilani pointed out that the entire country was passing through a crisis. The impact on Pakistan was multiplied because industries were closing down due to shortage of power. Agricultural sector had also been adversely affected. Floods had caused havoc last year. He said it was regrettable that the opposition leaders painted a bad image of the country abroad and urged the donors not to help the PPP-led government as it would misappropriate funds. He promised that the flood-hit who had already been paid Rs 20,000 per family would soon be paid the remaining amount of Rs 80,000.