ISLAMABAD, Dec 24: President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz have asked the nation to pledge and make efforts for turning Pakistan into a prosperous and dynamic Islamic welfare state.

They said this in their separate messages issued to pay tribute to the Quaid-i-Azam on his 128th birth anniversary on Dec 25. President Musharraf said the Quaid-i-Azam was one of the greatest leaders in world history and creation of Pakistan was a living testament of his foresight and political genius.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said the struggle to build Pakistan, as the Quaid envisioned the new Muslim homeland, was still going on. "We need all those qualities which singled out the Quaid as a politician, a thinker, a planner, a patriot and a freedom fighter if the nation was sincere in its devotion to this country which had been universally described as the first ideologically founded state in the world," the statement quoted the premier as saying.