Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Sunday said vision of "enlightened moderation" offers a permanent solution to terrorism and extremism, and urged the international community to help resolve longstanding disputes such as Palestine and Kashmir to uproot causes that spawned the twin menaces.
"Enlightened moderation stipulates a comprehensive and holistic approach. It is a way forward for the Muslim Ummah," he said while delivering a speech here at the International Islamic University of Malaysia.
Shaukat Aziz stressed that the Muslim Ummah needs reforms, rethinking and 'Ijtehad' to apply the enduring values of Islam.
"The vision aims at promoting inter-faith and inter-civilisation harmony. In a sense it proposes to win hearts and minds, breakdown the barriers of prejudice and reaching out through co-operation and promotion of peace, justice, moderation and compassion," said the Prime Minister.
Shaukat Aziz in his thought-provoking address, that drew wide applause from the distinguished audience of Islamic scholars, students and foreign envoys, highlighted the internal and external challenges facing the Muslim Ummah.
He said along with disputes such as Palestine and Kashmir, equally important was the need to help Afghanistan and Iraq move towards stability, security and peace.
"These situations are causing deep anxiety among Muslims everywhere in the world," he said, adding these situations give rise to volatile mix of anger, frustration, deprivation and humiliations that erupts into violence.
At the same time, the Prime Minister also underscored the need for countering sinister theories such as the clash of civilisation between the West and Islam, saying, vested interests and prejudices have given currency to these fallacious idea that defy historical experience and existing realties.
He called for discouraging and countering hate campaigns that malign the noble religion of Islam.
"Islam is a religion of peace, tolerance, compassion and moderation. Our faith rejects violence and extremism. It rejects discrimination in every aspect and seeks harmony and co-existence with other faiths," he added.
The Prime Minister said Muslims must also recognise that first and foremost, the remedy for malaise lies within.
Shaukat Aziz said the institutions like the Islamic University of Malaysia, have heavy responsibility to prepare a generation of young men and women who can provide intellectual leadership and once again reorient and rethink in accordance with the message of Islam.
It was consistent with the concept of enlightened moderation, he said, that his government has taken several steps both internally and externally to meet the challenges confronting he Muslim Ummah.
"These include political and economic reforms, strengthening of political institutions, good governance and empowerment of people, emancipation of women and minorities and improved delivery and quality of healthcare."
On the external front, the Prime Minister said Pakistan has taken several initiatives for bringing about peaceful and harmonious environment in the region and promotion of understanding and co-operation internationally.
Shaukat Aziz, in this regard, informed the audience bout the ongoing composite dialogue process with India to resolve all outstanding disputes, especially Kashmir in line with the wishes of the Kashmiri people.
He also reiterated Pakistan's support to the government of President Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan and said the country fully stood by Afghans in this hour of need.
The Prime Minister said Pakistan has and will always support the legitimate Palestinian cause. He said it was for this reason that Pakistan welcomed the total vacation of Gaza last month by Israel, ending its nearly 40 years of occupation.
On the occasion, he endorsed the philosophy of Islam Hadhari espoused by the Malaysian Prime Minister Ahmed Abdullah Badawi and expressed the confidence that together with the concept of enlightened moderation, it would contribute towards Islamic renaissance.
Answering a question after his address, the Prime Minister said Pakistan was fully capable to safeguard its nuclear and strategic assets and ruled out any possibility of their falling into wrong hands.
"We have strong command and control system in place to safeguard our strategic assets. If we can develop a nuclear programme we can manage it at world-class level," he added.
Shaukat Aziz told the questioner not to underestimate Pakistan, as the country knew how to take care of its nuclear arsenals.
Giving rationale behind developing the nuclear programme in the wake of events in South Asia, he said that peace could only be achieved through strength and not weakness.
Responding to another question, the Prime Minister said that democracy was fully functional in Pakistan and the country did not need any lesson from outside in this regard.
The Prime Minister said he was proud of being a part of the government under the leadership of President General Pervez Musharraf, which has transformed Pakistan in the last six years and was rebuilding the country that was prosperous and developed.
"Today we are having high growth rate and we want to see Pakistan which is growing and developing," he added.
The Prime Minister, while responding to a question, said Pakistan was opposed to terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
Rector of the Islamic University, Dr Kamal Hassan paid rich tributes to the Prime Minister for his thoughtful presentation that listed practical steps to take forward the Muslim Ummah.
He particularly appreciated Shaukat Aziz for taking on some emotional questions in a very cool, moderate and rationale manner and asked the audience to give the Prime Minister a big hand of applause.