Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Thursday said that the world should revisit its policies regarding Iraq in order to bring out that country from the present crisis and remove the sense of deprivation from the minds of its people. He said this while replying to a question after his address on "Vision for Pakistan" at Italian Center for International Conciliation Studies and Circle of Diplomatic Studies.
"We need to step back and ponder upon the policies on Iraq since what is happening there is leading to so much outcry," Shaukat Aziz said.
He said Iraq need fresh analysis since the present situation there will not remain confined and it is most likely that if the World does not give serious thought will go outside Iraq borders. "We need to analyse why is it happening and the current incidents in Iraq are of concern for all of us."
Regarding Pakistan's stance if the US decides to use force on Iran vis-à-vis its nuclear programme, the Prime Minister categorically said that solution of Iran issue does not lie in the use of force.
"Our view is clear - Pakistan does not support nuclear proliferation in any form, and we have been informed by the Iran government on many occasions that their nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only," he said, adding: "We believe that the issue should be amicably settled through dialogue like the EU initiative in this particular matter."
The Prime Minister Aziz was asked to make comment on the perception that the situation in Afghanistan was not improving as it was anticipated, he said that Afghanistan has moved in the right direction but we agree the pace is slow it needs to be geared up.
"I believe that the world should gear up its efforts for the fast reconstruction of the Afghanistan, since peaceful and stable Afghanistan was in the interest of the whole of the world, however, I believe we need to take strict action against the practice of poppy cultivation in there since the "drug money" poses "many threats" to the world."
Shaukat Aziz maintained Pakistan was doing its best in its capacity to do whatever it can to make Afghanistan stable.
He urged that challenges like terrorism are common for the world and we all should work together to combat this menace. "I stress on interfaith harmony, since this is the most important point that should taken seriously by the world," the Prime Minister Aziz said, adding: "no religion in the world tells to kill innocent people and Islam is the religion of peace and harmony."
Earlier, in his address, Shaukat Aziz said that in past six years Pakistan has made steady progress towards attainment of our vision for Pakistan. Internally, he said, Pakistan has made rapid gains in the political, economic and social spheres. On the external front we have succeeded in removing tensions and promoting co-operation with neighbouring countries, while initiating the process for resolving differences. The Prime Minister said Pakistan was now positioned to effectively contribute towards ensuring regional peace and stability as well as development.
He said that we in the developing world had high expectations from the globalisation, however, the developing countries have so far been deprived of the advantages of this phenomenon and the gap between the developed and developing nations has in fact widened.
"We believe that there is a need to ensure that net capital flows from the developing to the developed countries are reversed and that there is a truly level playing field." On the other hand, the Prime Minister said, he was convinced of the fact that the developing countries must help each other in order to help themselves.
Touching upon terrorism, the Prime Minister said it is an international phenomenon and Pakistan itself has been a victim of this menace. "In the ongoing war on terrorism Pakistan has played a vital role and achieved some major successes acknowledged universally."
However, he added, we believe it is important to distinguish between terrorism and the just struggle for their right of self determination such as in Palestine and Kashmir.
Shaukat Aziz said label of terrorism should not be used to denigrate Muslims and Islam. "We do not agree with any linkage between terrorism and Islam, since no religion can justify terrorism. Yet its is a fact that Muslims across the world and especially in the West, have become the victims of a defamation campaign which we find repugnant."
The Prime Minister also touched upon the concept of enlightened moderation as enunciated by the President Musharraf.
He said that Pakistan supports more effective and pro-active UN. "Pakistan believes that this organisation must be strengthened and UN reforms particularly of the UNSC must be based on adequate geographical representation, achieved through consensus and contribute towards uniting rather than dividing the international community."
The Prime Minister said that Pakistan strongly oppose creating new centers of privileges by increasing the number of permanent seats for individual states in the Security Council, since such step would further divide international community with negative effects for the UN.
He also briefly informed the audience about the Pakistan's achievements on the economic front.