Pakistan using unique Geo-strategic Position for Peace: PM
By Sarah Kamal 'Pakistan Times' Special Correspondent

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Thursday said due to its location at the confluence of South Asia, Central Asia and West Asia, Pakistan is using its unique geo strategic position to promote peace, stability and economic cooperation in the region.

He was talking to Prince El-Hassan Bin Talal of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan who called on him at the Prime Minister’s House this afternoon.

The Prime Minister said peace and harmony are important prerequisites for development and prosperity and Pakistan is making sustained and systematic efforts for conflict resolution at the regional and global level for a more secure and peaceful tomorrow.

He said the timely initiative taken by President General Parvez Musharraf for creating consensus among Muslim countries on the Palestine issue has been well received in the Islamic World and added that unanimity of views on the Palestine issue will help expedite the peace process in Middle East.

Bilateral relations, global and regional issues and the challenges facing the Ummah came under discussion.

The Prime Minister said the Islamic countries need to make collective efforts to overcome the challenges faced by them particularly in the social and economic fields.

He said some countries, which have huge surpluses, need to creatively use their resources to expedite growth and development in the Islamic World.

Emphasizing the need to promote interfaith harmony in the world, the Prime Minister said sustained efforts are required to bridge the growing divide between people belonging to different faiths as interfaith, inter civilization and inter-cultural harmony can be the best gifts given to the future generations.

Talking of the bilateral relations between Pakistan and Jordan, the Prime Minister said the two countries are bound in the ties of common faith, history and traditions and Pakistan desires to further augment bilateral, political and economic ties with Jordan.

The Prime Minister said ensuring security food, water and energy security are among the major priorities of the government.

He said high growth achieved in the last few years has resulted in surge in the energy needs of the country and the government is diversifying its energy resources to maintain the momentum of growth.

The Prime Minister said significant progress has been made on the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project. Pakistan is also buying electricity from Iran, the Prime Minister added.

Shaukat Aziz said Pakistan is proud of the highly valuable and vital contribution being made by Prince El Hassan Bin Talal in promoting interfaith harmony in the world.

He said Prince Talal is a scholar whose thoughtful advocacy and understanding of Islam has been instrumental in removing misperceptions and misunderstandings about Islam especially in the Western countries.

The Prime Minister appreciated the generous and prompt assistance provided by Jordan for the earthquake affected areas of AJK and NWFP.

Prince El-Hassan Bin Talal appreciated the initiative taken by the President General Pervez Musharraf for conflict resolution in Middle East.

Talking of bilateral relations he said Jordan attaches great importance to its relations with Pakistan and is keen to further strengthen trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.

He emphasized the need for more intensive cooperation among the Islamic countries to expedite growth and development process and bring prosperity for the people.

Prince El-Hassan Bin Talal said promoting interfaith harmony is the need of the hour as peace and stability will play vital role in the social and economic development of the world.

The meeting was attended among others by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Commander (Retd) Khalil ur Rehman, Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs and senior officials of both sides.

Prince El Hassan Bin Talal was accompanied by his wife Princess Sarvath El Hassan who held a separate meeting with Mrs. Rukhsana Shaukat Aziz.

Cooperation Vital

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Thursday reiterating Pakistan’s commitment towards greater peace and security in the region stressed closer collaboration amongst the regional countries to overcome the challenges.

“We feel the world needs to get together...the challenges we face require cohesion, cooperation and closeness in what we do,” he told participants of the 2-day roundtable.

Aziz also spelt out a four-point strategy being pursued by Pakistan to promote peace and prosperity in the region and beyond, besides focusing on the challenges and opportunities facing the people of Asia.

The conference organised by the Institute of Strategic Studies and Majlis El Hassan, Jordan and Sasakawa Peace Foundation of Japan was on “Voices from Asia: Towards a process for cooperation and security.”

Attended by experts from Bangladesh, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Japan, Norway, Palestine, Turkey, USA, Jordan and Pakistan the speakers discussed the challenges facing the region and need for a united strategy to address these.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said the greatest challenge faced in the region was to ensure peace and security within and between these countries.

“Our future prosperity depends upon ensuring a peaceful enabling environment. Threat to security posed by interstate disputes and conflicts, civil wars and acts of terrorism must be overcome,” Aziz stressed.

The Prime Minister agreed to Prince Hasan bin Talal about the serious threats and “widescale destruction” if Iran’s nuclear issue was not addressed.

“Pakistan has underscored the need for restraint and dialogue to resolve the controversy over Iran’s nuclear program,” Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said.

He said Pakistan believes that Iran has the right to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes under the international safeguards, and at the same time honour its commitments not to develop nuclear weapons.

“We are also opposed to any use of force as that would lead to devastating consequences for the entire region and destabilise the entire area,” he added.

The Prime Minister also called for an early end to the Iraq war through dialogue and compromise.

“Peace will come only by winning hearts and minds and not by enforcing shock and awe.”

He reiterated support to Iraq’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and preservation of its ethnic and sectarian fabric.

“Otherwise the entire region will be destabilized,” Aziz warned and added that an end to the Iraq war was imperative for controlling spread of terrorism across the region.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz also urged an early resolution of the Palestinian dispute as the violence there was feeding terrorism.

“Creation of an independent and sovereign state of Palestine in accordance with the wishes of the Palestinian people can provide the basis for a durable settlement of this issue.”

He said “the people of Palestine and Israel must be able to live within secure borders of their respective countries,” and added that the international community have a responsibility to facilitate an equitable settlement.

The Prime Minister referred to the new initiative and visits of President Pervez Musharraf to build consensus to address the conflict in the Middle East.

He mentioned the “festering Palestinian problem” combined with instability in Lebanon and the growing war in Iraq and said their settlement required dialogue and engagement with both the “visible and the invisible stakeholders”.

“Dealing with the invisible stakeholders at times is more important,” Aziz said and added that Pakistan will continue efforts to promote a peaceful solution to all these issues.

On the regional scene the Prime Minister spoke of the Composite Dialogue process with India to reduce tensions.

He said President Musharraf has proposed several ideas in his discussions with the Indian leaders and said these can serve as a basis for further discussions to resolve the core dispute of Jammu and Kashmir.

On Afghanistan, the Prime Minister said Pakistan was doing its part to check movement of undesirable elements in either direction and urged the international community and Afghans to do their part.

He called for breaking the “nexus between drugs and terrorism” and said the Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan have become safe havens for undesirable elements.

He said these must be dismantled and the refugees should return to their homes. He also urged a Marshal plan type programme for reconstruction, rehabilitation and development.

The Prime Minister about Pakistan’s role in the war against terrorism said a durable solution requires addressing the root causes - sense of deprivation, alienation and frustration, compelling some to resort to violence.

The Prime Minister also pointed at the unequal distribution of resources, the inability to harness these effectively and overburdening of resources due to disputes as one of the challenges.

“In some instances Asian countries have not fully leveraged the benefits of globalisation and remain mired in poverty, hunger and disease.”

Aziz also pointed at the environmental and ecological changes besides the issues of water, food and energy security.

He shared the four-point “architecture for security and cooperation” that calls for; broad-based reforms for good governance, empowerment of people and economic growth; dialogue with stakeholders to resolve disputes; cooperation to promote regional interdependencies; and ensuring level playing field on basis of equity and justice for sharing resources.

He said Asia presented a rich mosaic of religions and cultures, largest market and described it as the engine driving the international economy and added the 21st century will be an Asian Century.

The Prime Minister said Pakistan on its part was trying to leverage its strategic location at the cross roads of South, Central and West Asia and said it was establishing oil, gas and electricity linkages within these regions. He said Pakistan was fast emerging as a corridor for cooperation in energy, trade, transportation and tourism.

Prince Hasan bin Talal called for greater unity amongst the regional countries and regretted that most of the disputes were related to inter-Muslim strife. He said over 70 per cent of refugees were due to internal strife and urged resolution through dialogue and engagement.

He said the roundtable meeting appreciating the Makkah accord also called for an end to the economic blockade of the Palestinian Authority and stressed parallel dialogue with Israel, Syria and Lebanon to bring peace to the region.

He also apprised the participants about the setting up of a Task Force for the conceptualisation of the Social Charter for the West Asia - North Africa (WANA) countries.●