ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday said that Pakistan attached high importance to SAARC for its significant role in bringing the people of the members' states together by promoting investment, trade and people-to-people contact.

Talking to Ahmed Saleem, new Secretary General SAARC at the Prime Minister House, Gilani said the SAARC summits had provided excellent opportunities to the prime Ministers of Pakistan and India to hold meetings on the sidelines for the resumption of dialogue.

The Prime Minister said the progress made so far in the normalization of relations between Pakistan and India largely owned to such meetings.

He congratulated the new Secretary General on assuming the office of the Secretary General and said that during his tenure, the SAARC Secretariat would pro-actively follow the implementations of the decisions of SAARC summits.

The Prime Minister conveyed his best regards to the President of Maldives, adding he carried the found memoirs of the beautiful country.

The Secretary General said that the world at large recognized the strategic importance of SAARC and therefore the United States, European Union and China had sought the observer status which was testimony to its emerging significance in the international fora.

He said it was heartening to know that two important countries of SAARC Pakistan and India had covered good ground in improving their relations and were increasing the trade between them.

The Secretary General said that Centre of SAARC in Pakistan had been functioning exceptionally well and it would be his endeavours to bring other ten centres in other countries at par making their centres as centres of excellence.