APP,
KARACHI, Pakistan: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said Sunday that Pakistan is a peaceful country and it does not have aggressive designs against any one.
“Nevertheless, it is our conviction that peace comes with strength and not weakness”, therefore the government is committed to providing an impregnable defence for the country, he said speaking at the Special Convocation 2005 of the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) Karachi.
A degree of Doctors of Laws (Honoris Causa) was also conferred on the Prime Minister during the convocation.
Shaukat Aziz pointed out that at the strategic level, Pakistan's nuclear and missile capabilities have ensured a credible deterrence which is the ultimate guarantee for our security and a factor for peace and stability in the region.
He said our foreign policy has been reoriented to focus on furthering of our economic and trade interests while pursuing the traditional goals of securing the sovereignty and security of the country as geo-politics is fast yielding to geo-economics.
“We believe Pakistan can play a vital role in the promotion of peace, stability and prosperity at the regional and global levels”, the premier stressed.
He said Pakistan is strategically placed on the Asian continent and that we are located at the crossroads of South Asia, West Asia and Central Asia and have the tremendous advantage to be the hub for trade, investment, transportation and energy growth around the area.
The Prime Minister also pointed out that Islam has influenced the mankind across continents. Muslim civilization created a continental super state that stretched from ocean to ocean and from northern climbs to tropics and deserts. Within its dominions lived hundreds of millions of people of different creeds, ethic and religious origins. It provided an outstanding example of tolerance
And leadership- a leadership that harnessed the full capabilities of a very diverse population that included those from many other religions such as Christianity and Judaism and others.
He said the false notion of clash of civilization especially between the West and Islam and the tendencies to malign the Islamic faith are dangerous.
Shaukat Aziz said we reject prejudices against Islam.
“Islam is a faith of peace, tolerance, compassion and it is not on collusion course with the West”.
He made it clear that there is no place in Islam for terrorism, sectarianism, hatred, exploitation of human values and disrespect for others' beliefs.
The Prime Minister said we believe in inter-faith and inter- civilization harmony. Towards this end, President General Pervez Musharraf has presented the concept of enlightened moderation based on a two-pronged strategy. It calls upon the Muslim world to reject extremism and pursue reforms on the one hand and on the other it requires the West to redress long-standing issues that have caused so much pain and suffering in the Islamic societies.
On the occasion, he also pointed out that our country's direction is right and we are succeeding in pursuing our vision.
“Today, Pakistan has moved from nearing default to a robust and vibrant economy, from dysfunctional democratic institutions to functioning democracy and free press, from mismanagement and bad governance to improving governance and cleaner government, from threat of extremism and terrorism to stable and improved law and order situation, from threat to its sovereignty and integrity to credible defence and from a state of isolation among comity of nations to a major player in the regional and global peace and security initiatives”, he added.
The Prime Minister said we believe that globalisation is both a challenge and an opportunity. Early integrators with globalization are today enjoying greater access to market as well as resources and those lagged behind are suffering.
He stated that we reoriented our economic policies half a decade ago to benefit from the opportunities unleashed by globalisation.
Citing examples, the premier pointed out that five years ago we started working on a textile vision to prepare our textile industry to face the challenges.
He said billions of dollars worth of new machinery has come to Pakistan and today the growing textile industry of our country has the most modern machinery to compete with many of the countries.
The Prime Minister made it clear that there is no substitute to modern technology and that one can only invest in modern technology when one has capital which is generated by profitability.
He said there is a great example in Pakistan as to how the textile industry re-invented, re-engineered and re-invigorated itself and today it is well positioned to face the challenges of the day.
Shaukat Aziz stated that generally our education is in a transition from giving a memory test to the students to developing a thinking capability.
He said a successful education system is the one that develops thinking capability among the students.
