President General Pervez Musharraf said on Tuesday Pakistan's newly developed modern deep seaport at Gwadar offers Central Asian States the shortest route to the Arabian Sea for commerce with the world and added that under the Economic Co-operation Organisation the region can benefit enormously from trade through Pakistan.
"The fruition of ECO agreements on trade and tariff would bring a qualitative change in the regional trade milieu," he stated at a banquet, he hosted in honour of the visiting Uzbek leader Islam Karimov. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, members of the federal cabinet, services chiefs, diplomats and senior government functionaries attended the banquet.
Noting a recent increase in Pakistan-Uzbekistan trade, the President said the two ECO members must continue to diligently move forward to unlock the true potential of trade ties.
President Musharraf expressed gratitude to Tashkent for its wholehearted support for Pakistan's bid to gain full membership of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation and added that he would be attending the Summit meeting of the organisation being held in China.
Speaking about Pakistan's critical role in counter-terror, the President said the country is in the vanguard of the global drive to uproot the menace. However, he reiterated his emphasis that for the achievement of lasting success, it is essential the root out causes of extremism. He said disputes long left to fester by the international community through neglect or sheer callousness must be resolved soon.
"The world must also realise that denomination of a faith is no substitute for a meaningful dialogue."
About the ongoing composite dialogue process with India, President Musharraf said Pakistan is earnestly pursuing a serious dialogue with New Delhi.
"We earnestly desire to resolve the core dispute of Jammu and Kashmir, which is necessary for durable peace in the region."
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