Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Sunday said he foresaw increased co-operation in defence, security and economic fields among D-8 countries after the Summit in Bali. He said it was a very important meeting.
He described the creation of the permanent secretariat of D-8 in Istanbul, and the appointment of a full Secretary General as an important outcome of the meeting in terms of follow-up on the decisions taken at the summit.
"Clear-cut decisions were made to increase co-operation in the areas of trade, investment, security, defence, people-to-people contact, education, science and technology," he told the accompanying media while flying back after attending the Bali summit.
The Prime Minister also hailed the signing of Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) and the Multilateral Agreement on Administrative Assistance in Customs matters that would allow low tariffs on agreed products, giving fillip to trade and also leading to more private sector contact which, he added, was the essence of economic ties between countries in D-8.
He said the meeting discussed to share best practices in their respective countries, learned from each other and worked towards improving linkages and inter-dependencies for enhancing co-operation.
The D-8 leaders also had a retreat meeting, which provided them an opportunity to discuss an open agenda in a frank atmosphere without their ministers and aides.
"We held frank discussions on all major issues confronting the Muslim Ummah and the world," he said.
Besides holding bilateral meetings with the Indonesian President and the Malaysian counterpart, Prime Minister Aziz also met with the Iranian President and the Turkish Prime Minister for a trilateral meeting to discuss regional situation.
"The most significant meeting we had was the trilateral meeting to discuss individual relations and how we three can work together," he added.
Prime Minister Aziz said the three leaders discussed various proposals with regard to lowering tension in the region.
"We discussed how we can lower tension in the region; how we can promote the cause of peace; how we can cooperate more on trade, transport, energy, security," he added.
The Prime Minister said he also discussed the proposed Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project and other energy initiatives like buying electricity from each other.
He described Pakistan-Iran-Turkey relationship as historical that goes back to Regional Co-operation Organisation (RCD) and said they had the opportunity to sit together on the sidelines of the Summit to explore ways and means to further their existing relation.
Prime Minister Aziz described summit meetings such as D-8 as important events that provide opportunity to the leaders of the member countries to also hold bilateral meetings besides the multilateral talks.
He expressed hope that the D-8 meeting will strengthen the Ummah and the OIC, as all its members are also the part of the 57-nation Islamic grouping.
Responding to a question, the Prime Minister described the misperception of the world about Islam as the foremost challenge facing the Muslim Ummah. "Many in the world do not understand the true essence of Islam," he added.
The Prime Minister said: "We need to build inter-faith harmony; we need to tell the world that Islam is a faith which practices peace and harmony and propagates the sense of living together."
He expressed hope that the D-8 meeting would help the cause of the Muslim world to project Islam in its true light and perspective.
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