NEW YORK, Sept 22: President Pervez Musharraf said on Sunday that Pakistan was willing and able to lead the Muslim world out of the present crisis since the Sept 11 attacks in the United States and the Iraq war.

“The international community believes that Pakistan has a role to play in leading the Muslim nation,” Gen Musharraf told a large gathering of Pakistanis at a local hotel hours after his arrival.

Gen Musharraf said the West looked to Pakistan as a strong pillar and a bridge between Islam and the West, and asserted: “We must rise and accept this challenge. We have the resources and ability to do so.”

As regards the perception in the West about Islam, which was being construed to be that of militancy and terrorism, he said: “Instead of adopting the path of confrontation, the right course is to go for enlightened moderation.”

He said Muslims had slipped into backwardness because of many pitfalls, which he said must be honestly looked into and redressed. The impression in the West that Islam was a religion of extremism must be cleared up.

The president, who would be attending the OIC summit on Oct 14-15 in Malaysia, said he had written to the OIC heads of states, calling for steps to become stronger. “We must look at our pitfalls, and try to overcome these.”

It was imperative, Gen Musharraf said, that in the aftermath of the Cold War, “we should keep pace with the world events and see things in the correct perspective.” He said a strategic shift in international relations was witnessed in the Gulf, Middle East and Central Asia. Pakistan had become a geo-strategic and geo-economic hub of the region, and it was time to take advantage of the opportunity, he added.