Tourists' visits to promote cultural links with Japan

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Thursday invited Japanese tourists to visit the scenic land of exotic beauty and a rich cultural heritage in Pakistan to promote closer links between the two countries.
"Pakistan has a lot to offer, come and see civilisations living along the Indus and the ancient Buddhist sites of Gandhara," the Prime Minister told a gathering of hundreds at a ceremony marking the Independence Day celebrations of Pakistan at Expo Aichi 2005.
The six-month long expo till September 25 houses pavilions from around 125 countries and has so far attracted over 1.3 million visitors with the total number expected to increase to over 15 million.
He said he was proud to see Pakistan participating in the expo and showcase its rich cultural past and present. The pavilion, he said, gives a glimpse of the lifestyle of the people and how they coexist with nature. "Pakistan is more beautiful than the pavilion you see here," the Prime Minister said and added such tourist visits would develop a better understanding amongst the people of Japan and Pakistan.
He said the theme of the Pakistani pavilion was woven around the need to protect the environment, even though it faces the onslaught by the mankind in his struggle for economic sustenance.
"We have to coexist with nature and make effort to protect it," he said. He sought Japan's assistance in efforts to protect the environment and asked it to lead the way as it pioneered development in Asia decades ago.
Referring to Tsushima, Pakistan's friendship city, he said the city was an engine of growth with a GDP more than that of many economies and the one that transformed Japan into an economic super power. He said Pakistan has a diverse culture and landscape and a heaven for tourists.
The commissioner general of the expo, Tazio Watanabe, said bilateral ties between the two countries have entered a new phase and would further strengthen with Pakistan's participation in the expo.
The friendship ambassador of Tsushima city, Tetsumei Hirayama, said the pavilion showcases a 3-d model of the world's second highest peak K-2, and statues of fasting Buddha have left many a visitors just speechless.
A cultural troupe from Pakistan presented a thrilling presentation with glimpses of dresses, dance and music. The Prime Minister, later during the lunch, apprised his Japanese hosts about the historic silk route, which traversed through Pakistan and provides linkages that exist today between the two countries.