Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Saturday that Pakistan stood for interfaith harmony and promotion of understanding among all faiths and its minorities enjoyed equal rights and opportunities and freedom to practice their religions.
Talking to an 11-member delegation of Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), which called on him at the Prime Minister House, he said Pakistan being an Islamic state believes in equal rights to all.
The Prime Minister informed the delegation about various steps the government has taken to protect minorities' rights and promote their welfare. The government, he added, has given the minorities the right of joint electorate to bring them into the national mainstream and they can participate in voting for every tier of the government.
The Prime Minister said Pakistan was striving hard to promote the cause of inter-faith harmony and understanding for global peace.
Stressing the imperative need to reject the pernicious attempts to associate terrorism with the Islamic faith, he said, Islam is a religion of compassion and tolerance which preaches, peace, amity, tolerance and allows freedom of practice to followers of all faiths.
He referred to the vision of "enlightened moderation" as compounded by President General Pervez Musharraf to promote inter-civilisation harmony. He said the concept exhorts Muslim society to reform and reject extremism. At the same time, it calls upon the West to facilitate resolution of issues that have caused anger and anguish among Muslims, he added.
Shaukat Aziz informed the delegation about the ongoing composite dialogue process with India. He said Pakistan desires peace with India and believes that the ongoing peace process as irreversible.
The Prime Minister, however, emphasised that atmosphere would not improve until resolution of the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people. Pakistan, he added, hoped that India would also address the issue of human rights violations in Indian occupied Kashmir.
The Prime Minister also underlined the role Pakistan was playing as a frontline state in the war on terrorism and said its key role has been fully recognised the world over.
He said Pakistan remains steadfast in its opposition to terrorism and was convinced that a lasting solution to this problem requires elimination of the causes of terrorism rooted in denial of justice, deprivation, poverty and hopelessness. The delegation included British MP David Drew, Paul Diamond, Stuwart Windsor, National Director of CSW, Ben Rogers, Mushtaq Victor MNA and Shahbaz Bhatti.
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