D-8 Hails Pakistan on its National Day of March 23rd

Islamabad, Pakistan | March 24, 2008 by D-8 Secretariat

Pakistan is celebrating the 68th Pakistan Day with full traditional zeal and fervor today (March 23rd). The day dawned with a 31-Gun Salute in the Federal Capital and 21-Gun Salute in Provincial Capitals. Special Prayers were offered in all mosques for solidarity and prosperity of Pakistan. Main feature of the day is the Armed Forces Parade, which is being held at Jinnah Sports Complex, here. President Pervez Musharraf took the salute, reviewed the parade and delivered his brief address.

Caretaker Prime Minister Muhammad Mian Soomro, Defence Minister, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Tariq Majeed, Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral M Afzal Tahir, Begum Sehba Musharraf and other armed and civilian high officials attended the parade. Smartly turned out contingents drawn from the three Services presented the Guard of Honor. It was followed by a scintillating fly-past of the PAF Combat Aircraft.

Leaders from all around the world such as Turkish, Chinese, and Indian Presidents, sent their messages to President Pervez Musharraf felicitated him and the people of Pakistan on the eve of Pakistan Day. Turkish President Abdullah Gul in his felicitation message said that Ankara was determined for further strengthening of the historical friendship ties with Pakistan. He hoped that Pak-Turk friendship would continue passing on to the next generations and the Pakistan Day would prove to be an opportunity for further strengthening the national integrity and solidarity of Pakistan. China vowed taking strategic cooperation with Pakistan to new heights, said the foreign office here. Chinese President Hu Jintao in his message has expressed his and on behalf of the people of China good wishes to President Pervez Musharraf and the people of Pakistan. He hoped that the people under the leadership of President Musharraf would succeed in meeting the internal and external challenges confronting Pakistan. Chinese President congratulating President Musharraf on his success vowed China taking strategic cooperation with Pakistan to new heights. Indian President, Pratibha Patil in her Pakistan Day felicitation message to President Pervez Musharraf and the people of Pakistan expressed this hope that the joint efforts of the two countries for improving relations would meet with success, as the people of both the countries have strong desire for peace and amity.

Still Reliable Place for Investing

Meanwhile, Pakistan is still a safe place for Malaysians to invest and do business, said Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Malaysia Lt Gen (Rtd) Tahir Mahmud Qazi on the occasion day. In giving this assurance in Malaysia, Tahir said the Pakistan authorities and security forces were capable enough and knew how to tackle and overcome the security challenges and violence. Tahir said Malaysian companies including some big companies continued to invest in Pakistan while the confidence of the international business community also remained intact. “Just ask them (those already in Pakistan)…they are there. Go to Pakistan and make money…lots of money,” he said when asked how safe was Pakistan for Malaysian investors following incidences of violence in the South Asian country lately.

Earlier, Tahir hoisted the Pakistan flag at the high commission’s compound in conjunction with the republic’s 68th anniversary. Describing the incidences of violence as “fluctuating”, Tahir said what Pakistan was going through today was not something new, adding that the violence was mainly due to the spillover effect of the ongoing conflict in neighbouring Afghanistan. “What is happening primarily is not our doing but (we) just happen to be in a particular region and that region is destabilised…I am referring to the Afghanistan situation. A kind of war is going on there, in areas bordering Pakistan…we are getting the heat. “But Pakistan is a very resilient country…we know how to deal with the situation,” he said.

According to Tahir, the target of most of the attacks in Pakistan so far had been the law and order agencies and the armed forces and not on foreign investors or the business community. Tahir said Malaysia was today one of the leading foreign investors in Pakistan and involved mainly in the infrastructure and energy sector, while Pakistan was the third largest importer of Malaysia’s palm oil.

Tahir named defence, science and technology and space technology as among the new areas of cooperation that both countries could explore. He said Pakistan, a country of 162 million people, would like to see more investments from Malaysia, including in the power and alternative source of energy sector. He said in the last seven years, Pakistan was the third largest growing economy in Asia and this was also a testimony to being a country which continued to be attractive for foreign investors. On Pakistan-Malaysia bilateral relations, he said both countries signed the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) last November, marking the first FTA between two Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) countries. Currently, there are about 30,000 Pakistani migrant workers in Malaysia.

About 100 members of the Pakistani community attended the event where the message of President Pervez Musharraf was read. In his speech, Tahir who paid tribute to the founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, said there was a need for its people to work hard and make collective efforts to transform Pakistan into a modern, progressive and tolerant society.

D-8 Organization, through the Secretary General Dipo Alam, extends its highest congratulations for Pakistan on this special occasion, and believes that the country’s growth will flourish as its cooperation within the framework of D-8 Organization developed to higher ground with the supports of all member states.

Photosource: AP

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