09 February 2005	Wednesday	29 Zilhaj 1425

ISLAMABAD, Feb 8: Pakistan is one of the countries with rich cultural treasures of various civilizations which need to be highlighted to attract foreign tourists.

This was stated by Japanese Ambassador Nobuaki Tanaka while talking to a group of four students who had been selected under South Asian Students Invitation Programme (SASIP) to visit Japan for a week.

"Pakistan has Taxila, Mohinjodaro and remnants of the Indus Valley Civilization, which are something that only few countries of the world posses," Mr Tanaka said here at the Japanese embassy.

The key to any country's tourism is the promotion of its assets of local culture, the ambassador said, adding that "Pakistan has rich culture which only need to be promoted worldwide."

Interestingly, he said, majority of Japan's population know about historical places such as Buddhist sites in northern areas, and they wanted to come to Pakistan.

Talking to the students, the ambassador said this programme enabled young Pakistani students to know about Japanese culture, traditions and history. Besides visiting Japan, students will also stay with Japanese families to have first-hand experience of their everyday life, he added.

About nuclear holocaust of the second world war, Mr Tanaka said: "Unfortunately, Japan is the only country which was exposed to nuclear weapons. This visit is a lifetime opportunity for you people to visit the museum in Nagasaki to know how we people suffered from this tragedy."

Pakistan must know the ramifications of nuclear holocaust, the ambassador said.

Sana Maqbool, Schanzah Khalid, Asim Mubashar and Aftab Khaliq of Beaconhouse School System have been selected by the Japan embassy under its SASIP for one-week trip to Japan. They will be accompanied by their teacher, Shamim Farooq.

Speaking on the occasion, the students expressed their joy for being selected to visit Japan. They said they had already gathered a lot of information about Japan and were happy in real sense to be selected under the SASIP.

"We are very much interested in Japanese culture, its various races, historical sites and its novel economic growth which it had made after World War II," they said.

One of the students said it was amazing that in present day world where English language dominated, Japanese had progressed immensely while sticking to their own language.