01 October 2004	Friday	15 Shaban 1425

LONDON, Sept 30: British Prime Minister Tony Blair has said Britain has an extraordinarily close relationship with Pakistan, particularly over the past few years, and cementing it further will be good for the rest of the world.

"We value the relationship with Pakistan enormously and that relationship, for very obvious reasons, in the past few years has been extraordinarily close," Mr Blair told a reception hosted at the ruling Labour party's annual conference at Brighton by the Pakistan High Commission late on Wednesday.

Many British ministers and scores of MPs who attended the reception one of the popular British seaside resorts, about 60 miles from London, in their brief remarks vowed to work for further strengthening Pakistan-UK ties in various areas of their cooperation.

"We live in a very difficult period of time in the world, that is true but if we are able to work together closely, I think that is a very good augury for the rest of the world as well," said Mr Blair.

He said that friendly ties between the two countries were mutually beneficial. "I have had a real sense of how important it is that this relationship allows Pakistan to make progress and allow our two countries to deepen the relationship over time for the good of both of us," he added.

Britain already had "two excellent members of parliament of Pakistani origin but we also going to have at least three more," he said, while referring to Labour Muslim MPs Khalid Mehmood and Muhammad Sarwar and three prospective Labour candidates Shahid Malik from Dewsbury, Yasim Qureshi from Brent and Sadiq Khan from Tooting.

Cherie Blair, wife of the British premier, told APP that she was appreciative of the role being played by women in Pakistan as it would help remove the perception that Muslim women were oppressed.

British Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and Minister for Women Patricia Hewitt described Pakistan-Britain trade and business ties as very important. The relationship between the two countries is far more significant than their commercial links, she added.

She said that a very large British-Pakistani community here was a great source of strength. She called for building on the existing trading and economic links between the two countries.

British Minister for Energy Stephen Timms said the government was keen to foster relations with British Muslims. "They are a dynamic community and making a great contribution in economic development of the UK."

High Commissioner Dr Maleeha Lodhi expressed gratitude to Mr Blair for gracing the occasion, saying his presence spoke of his strong commitment to relations between the two countries.

"We are confident that with your continued support the Pakistan-UK friendship will continue to strengthen in our mutual interest," she said. She said in the last four years, bilateral relations had achieved new heights and Britain today was "our largest trading partner within the EU and the fourth biggest trading partner in the world."

Both countries have consulted closely in the Security Council where Pakistan has played an active role to promote global peace and security as a non-permanent member. She said this reception was organized to celebrate the Pakistan-UK friendship and to appreciate the efforts underway to inject greater quality and depth into an already rich and robust relationship rooted deep in history.

The reception is also to celebrate the ethnic diversity of Britain and the active and constructive role being played by close to a million Britons of Pakistani and Kashmiri origin in the political, economic and cultural life of Britain.

"MPs Mohammad Sarwar, Khalid Mahmood, NEC member Shahid Malik and Lord Ahmed of Rotherham are testimony to the robustness of the Pakistan origin community in Britain. Their success also testifies that Labour party is conscious of the need to mainstream ethnic minorities, which is so essential to promote and strengthen inter-racial harmony in a country anchored in laws and liberalism," she said.

She expressed confidence that there would be more MPs of Pakistani origin in the next parliament and they would contribute to British society as well as Pakistan-UK relations. -APP