President seeks more market access to be able to fight root causes of terrorism
By Khaleeq Kiani
DAVOS, Jan 25: President Pervez Musharraf said here on Friday that Pakistan was not going to disintegrate.
“It is here to stay and stay as a vibrant force on the world spectrum,” he told delegates of the World Economic Forum (WEF) at a breakfast meeting.
He called upon European nations to provide greater market access to Pakistan in order to make it economically stronger and able to fight poverty and illiteracy which were root causes of terrorism and extremism.
Mr Musharraf said Pakistan was facing multi-dimensional challenges due to the fallout of the Afghan war.
Instead of leaving the country alone after a “good job done” during the Afghan war, he said the West should have helped it to combat terrorism and extremism.
He said the West should not repeat the mistake it had made when it left Pakistan high and dry after the withdrawal of the Soviet forces from Afghanistan in the 80s.
The president refuted an impression that Pakistans nuclear assets could fall into the hands of extremists. This could happen only if extremists won elections or defeated the armed forces. He said religious parties were likely to get fewer seats in the coming elections than they had won in the previous polls.
He apprised the participants of the safety mechanism around the nuclear programme and said a well-defined system was in place to ensure complete safety and security of the nuclear assets.
He rejected allegations that intelligence agencies or he himself were involved in PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto’s assassination on December 27, and said that such aspersions were cast by vested interests.He said Ms Bhutto’s assassination was a sad and disturbing development which led to a crisis-like situation in Pakistan.
Investigations are under way to establish who assassinated Ms Bhutto and for what purpose.
He said the government was close to the network which was involved in suicide bombings and other such activities aimed at destablising Pakistan. He said that Pakistan was a booming economy and listed the achievements made during the past six to seven years.
He told the participants that Pakistan had become a “failed and technically defaulted state” way before when he came onto the scene in 1999. Then, he said, he and former prime minister Shaukat Aziz, who was present in the audience, adopted a three-pronged strategy based on deregulation, privatisation and liberalisation to correct the economy.
He said Shaukat Aziz and he had done a great job and turned the economy around. The country’s economic indicators are showing a healthy trend and helping the government to maintain a high growth rate.
He asked investors to visit Pakistan and see for themselves the nature of growth in Pakistans economic sectors, adding that 700 foreign companies were making high profits, which was a clear indication that the people’s purchasing power had increased because of the economic boom.
The president was confident that after the elections, the new government would maintain the economic upsurge and provide the people with better facilities for progress and prosperity.
Mr Musharraf assured the participants that Feb 18 elections would be completely free, fair and transparent.
