Turkey, Pakistan should achieve shared prosperity by pooling resources: Zardari

ANKARA, Turkey, April 14: President Asif Ali Zardari Thursday said fraternal relations between Pakistan and Turkey should be converted into tangible joint projects by taking advantage of the natural resources, human capital and high end production available in the two countries. Addressing representatives of Turkish think tanks, media and academicians on Thursday on the topic of “Pakistan Turkey Relations in a Changing Global Scenario”, the President  underlined the need “for widening horizons and going beyond immediate future” to take advantage of the available opportunities.
He said Pakistan and Turkey have initial ingredients in a relation like similarities of religion and culture.
He said Pakistan has fertile lands and natural resources like coal and Turkey as a developed economy, democracy and nation at the doors of Europe has the capacity to make high end products. So these advantages can be converged for the mutual benefit of the two countries, he added.
He said people of country have money but they are not in the habit of raising capital from the stock exchanges to fund projects.
President Zardari invited Turkish businessmen to invest in Pakistan and the government will facilitate them with infrastructure and they can take back their capital and profits to make more money in new projects. “The world has money and it is looking for tangibles,” he noted.
He said issues facing the international community should be decided with collective wisdom by following the path of reconciliation, dialogue and patience.
He said other countries have to follow the example of China which is thinking far ahead in future.
Referring to the situation in Egypt, Syria and countries in the Middle East, he said the need is to stop the decline in civilizations.
“Further aggression will hamper the path to progress,” he said adding, stability in the region should not be disturbed but the process of dialogue should be given ownership while accepting that every country has peculiar circumstances.
He stressed the need for innovation in economic field and raise per capita income of the commonman.
The President talked about the natural resources that exist in the mountains and plains of Pakistan and in Central Asia which can help create a century led by Asia.
He said environmental degradation and food security is a serious concern in the face of rising populations. “We should not poison our future.”
President Zardari said after taking responsibility as President he has been following in the footsteps of the founder of PPP Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
Referring to the book of Benazir Bhutto on reconciliation, he said show of force is not the exact depiction of the modern and civilized mindset.
He said he refused to follow the path of civil war and chose the noble art of politics and dialogue and everybody needs to look into himself and live and let live.
“I walked the path of dialogue, patience and resilience after the martyrdom of my wife,” he said.
Referring to the Musharraf era, he said when there was dictator in power, his party chose the path of dialogue, accepted to take part in election under a dictatorial dispensation and continued negotiations leading to the departure of Pervez Musharraf.
To a question, he said he opened dialogue with America and asked for $100 billion for the loss to his country’s economy as Pakistan was a frontline state in the war against terrorism.
“The major impetus to the war in Afghanistan is the production of heroin. And if the situation remained the same, things will not change even in the next 12 year,” he said while talking about the factors of instability in Afghanistan.
President Zardari reminded that youth of  Pakistan have taken a strong position in reaction to the assassination of Governor Punjab Salman Taseer, adding “non state actors” even forced the United States to come for war.
To a question on relations between India and Pakistan, he said two great nations cannot be kept hostage to groups and non-state actors.
About US role in the South Asian region, Zardari said United States has accepted the situation that war is not the only option and now even it is talking to Taliban.
“It is a misperception that Pakistan looks at Afghanistan as a country which provides it strategic depth,” he said, adding any dialogue process for reconciliation in Afghanistan should be home-driven.
He said when he became President all the powers were vested in his office by the former dictator and he was advised not to give up powers but he gave rights to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, whose political leaders in the past were even called traitors.
The President said he has asked the courts to revisit the judicial murder of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to rectify a historical mistake but it is not for the sake of revenge. APP

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