PESHAWAR, May 31: The NWFP Minister for Information, Syed Imtiaz Hussain Gilani, said here on Friday that Pakistan had been urging for the deployment of the international observers along the Line of Control yet the provocative actions of Indian government were ignored and Pakistan was being asked to take the first step.

Speaking at the certificate distribution ceremony of two-week training workshop at the Senate Hall of the University of Peshawar, the minister said due to lack of knowledge international media created very negative image about Pakistan, having no nexus with reality.

The training workshop was jointly organised by the Media Training and Research Centre (MTRC), Peshawar University, International Institute for Journalism (IIJ) of the DSE, Germany, Peshawar Press Club and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), Islamabad.

He said the world media should present true picture of the situation prevailing in the region.

Appreciating the holding of in-service/practice training for journalists, he said it would contribute a lot to the capacity building of the working journalists. Such training workshops would also benefit the newspapers entrepreneurs, he added.

Gilani also said the progress in real terms was impossible without including the 140 million people of the country in this process. The government, he added, was committed to allow access to these resources to the entire nation.

The function was also addressed by University Vice Chancellor Syed Zulfiqar Gilani, IIJ representative Amin Kassam, Journalism department Chairman Dr Shahjehan, Peshawar Press Club President Intikhab Amir and Abdul Qadir of the FES.