DOHA – Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Tuesday said Pakistan fullysupported the Kuala Lumpur Summit, an initiative of Malaysian PrimeMinister Dr Mahathir Mohammad, bringing together five Muslim nations toachieve socio-economic development.
Addressing at the second Kuala Lumpur Summit Ministerial Meeting held inQatar’s capital, the Foreign Minister said the challenges of governance,development, climate change, terrorism and rising Islamophobia, warrantedan integrated and comprehensive response.
Muslim countries including Pakistan, Indonesia, Turkey and Qatar on thecall of host Malaysia are participating in the ministerial meeting in Doha,prior to the main Summit to be held in Kuala Lumpur from December 18 to 21.
The seven areas of focus include development and sovereignty; integrity andgood governance; culture and identity; justice and freedom; peace, securityand defence, trade and investment and technology and Internet governance.
The Foreign Minister said with juggernaut of globalization causing acivilizational and cultural erosion, it was imperative for the Muslim worldto tread a cautious path.
“We must not only make sure that we are not left behind but are able topreserve our unique civilizational identity, cultural personality andnational sovereignty,” he said.
Qureshi said Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Qatar, Iran and Turkeycollectively accounted for about 50 percent of the total GDP, 37 percenteach of natural gas production and population, and 18 percent of the totalarea of Muslim world.
He said for the nations, situated in close proximity to the strategicmaritime points of the world – namely the Straits of Malacca, Gulf of Oman,Strait of Hormuz, and the Bosphorus, there existed an immense potential forcollective development and shared prosperity.“We must have the requisite political and diplomatic space to enhancebeneficial cooperation among us for socio-economic development,” he said.
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The Foreign Minister said Pakistan was working on proposals for cooperationwithin the KL Summit framework in the fields of trade, tourism, Islamicbanking, food security, higher education, science and technology, and womenempowerment.
While charting the future course of KL Summit or ‘Perdana Dialogue forCivilization’, he said there was a need to be mindful of the perceptionsand perspectives of the partners inside and outside of the Muslim world.
He endorsed the statement of Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir that “weare not here to challenge any existing organization or directing ourcooperation against any third party.”The ‘Perdana Dialogue’, he said would not just be a think-tank or a forumfor discussions, but would also allow the participating countries toundertake concrete projects for collaboration.
He expressed the confidence that sharing of experiences, knowledge andresources would help the participating counties in achieving the targets ofsocio-economic and cultural development, driven by innovation andtechnology in a peaceful and secure environment.
“We have to create a knowledge-seeking culture for our youth, who are goingto be the future leaders, at all levels,” he added.
