Australian PM lauds Pakistan role in war against terror
Australian Prime Minister John Howard Tuesday lauded Pakistan’s role in the war against terrorism and said Islam and all other religions strongly opposed all violence.
Speaking here at a banquet hosted by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in his honour at the Prime Minister House, he said “Terrorism is unacceptable to Islam and other religions.” He expressed his great respect and admiration for the leadership of Pakistan and for taking a strong stand in the war against terrorism.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said Pakistan was a moderate and enlightened country, a vibrant democracy and with a strong opposition with a vocal press. He said both Australia and Pakistan have commonality of views on international issues and said the two countries were working together to enhance cooperation in all spheres.
The Australian Prime Minister John Howard said Pakistan and Australia have lot of things in common, particularly in history, culture and sports. He said it was important to further strengthen their trade relations between the two countries and emphasised the need to promote these by providing maximum opportunities to the business community and the private sectors. The Australian Prime Minister said the relationship between the two countries was strengthened with the visit of President Musharraf and said he looked forward to further strengthening of these ties. He said his country was greatly touched by the massive tragedy that occurred in Pakistan and can understand the suffering the people had to endure. He appreciated openness and transparency in different sectors of Pakistan’s economy.
Prime Minister Aziz said Pakistan and Australia have good bilateral relations but there was still room for strengthening these with promotion of trade and economic ties.
The Prime Minister stressed the need of increasing trade, particularly to enhance interaction between the private sectors of the two countries to promote their business ties.
Referring to October 8 earthquake, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said it was great tragedy for Pakistan. He said Pakistan government with the help of the international community and NGOs from within the country was providing relief to the people in the affected areas. Aziz said Australia can fill the gap between developed and the developing countries, by helping the under-developed countries and by promoting trade relations.
He thanked the Australian government for the assistance it provided in the earthquake relief and rescue measures and said the people of Pakistan appreciate this gesture and are grateful for the timely help. He said Australia has played a key role in building strong ties with Pakistan. The Prime Minister apprised the Australian Prime Minister about the economic achievements of Pakistan. Aziz said Pakistan believes in peace and harmony among all segments of society in the region and specially referred to the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, which he termed it as a peace pipeline.
