Islamabad, Apr 2: In a meeting with a visiting Indian lawmaker last evening, Pakistan Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani reportedly talked about the stark similarities between him and Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil.

Going down his memory lane, Gilani told National Conference Lok Sabha MP Abdul Rashid Shaheen that they were both jailed in the respective countries around the same time, then they rose to become the Speakers in their respective Parliaments, and in between they both had a brief stints as tourism ministers in their respective governments.

Gillani and Patil had met many a time in the past on different international forums as tourism ministers and the legislature’s speakers, the Daily Times quoted Gilani as telling the Indian MP.

Gillani also handed over written a message to Shaheen during a recent seminar in Islamabad.

The prime minister later met with the Indian lawmaker at parliament house and told him that his political career had a great resemblance with that of Indian home minister. Gillani has also mentioned the aspect in his autobiography.

He writes in the autobiography that in 1988, he was tourism minister in Pakistan and so was Patel in India, and later he was elected National Assembly Speaker and Patel Lok Sabha speaker. Gillani further writes that he had heard from Jalil Abbas Jillani that when he was jailed in Pakistan, Patel too was behind bars. (ANI)