ISLAMABAD, Dec 13: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has assured the European Union that Pakistan would continue to play its critical role in curbing extremism and promotion of an enlightened and moderate face of Islam.

The prime minister was speaking to a select group of EU envoys headed by Mr Ilkka Unsitalo, EU ambassador in Pakistan, who called on him at the Prime Minister's House on Tuesday.

Mr Aziz said the EU was one of the significant partners of Pakistan in trade and development investment. His government, he added, was determined to take these relations to further solidification and expansion.

Referring to the strong partnership that Pakistan had forged with the EU in the promotion of the objective of peace and stability in the region, he assured the envoys that his country would fulfil its commitment of curbing extremism and instead would promote an enlightened and moderate face of Islam.

The prime minister recalled the recent highly successful visit of President Gen Pervez Musharraf to two key EU member countries, the United Kingdom and France. The visit he said would go a long way in enhancing Pakistan-EU understanding on bilateral and global issues facing the two regions.

Premier Aziz underlined the significance of bed linen exports worth $800 from Pakistan to EU markets which support 200,000 direct jobs and a similar number through ancillary industries. As such nearly two million people of these families, he maintained, were benefiting from this access to EU markets.

He acknowledged the significance of concessions accorded to Pakistan by the EU countries in the aftermath of 9/11 and expressed the hope that the next round of GSP being designed by the EU would continue to protect Pakistan's access in the quota regime, which would become operative after January 2005.

He urged the EU ambassadors to play a catalytic role in achieving this objective. So far as Pakistan was concerned, he asserted, it had given the necessary background briefing to all EU members and that message could be reinforced by the local missions as well.

Included in the EU group of envoys were: Mr Patrick Renamit of Belgium, UK High Commissioner Mark Lyall Grant, Plerre Charasse of France, Dr Christoph Brummer of Germany and Mr Roberto Mazzota of Italy.

DEBT POSITION: Meanwhile, the prime minister presided over a high-level meeting which reviewed the country's debt and foreign exchange position. In his briefing, the economic adviser and director-general of debt office, Dr Ashfaq, said the debt situation was fast moving towards a sustainable level.

He further said that the public debt which was 100 per cent of the GDP five years back had come down to around 69 per cent by the end of last financial year. Similarly, the external debt and liabilities were over 52 per cent of the GDP five years ago which had been reduced to 37 per cent by the end of the last fiscal.

The meeting was informed that both public and external debt would reach to a very comfortable position in the next three to four years. The premier asked the debt office to further strength itself by hiring good professionals and to look into the currency profile of debt and examine the possibility of hedging foreign currency, interest rate and commodities hedging.