SAARC needs to be turned into an effective platform: President Mamnoon
KARACHI, (MILLAT ONLINE):President Mamnoon Hussain here on Wednesday called for turning the platform of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) effective through strong regional connectivity and people to people contact.
addressing a conference on Peace in South Asia, organized by
Pakistan Institute of International Affairs (PIIA), he said the region
home to around 1.7 billion, representing 21% of the world population,
is in urgent need of peace.
“South Asia is mired in several crisis and conflicts at the
moment due to various unresolved political and geographical factors,”
said the President.
Mentioning that the situation was getting all the more complex
due to India’s ongoing arms build-up, instability in Afghanistan and
the menace of terrorism, he said the situation can be aptly tackled
through regional cooperation and settling of longstanding disputes.
“I believe that the whole region of South Asia is in search for
peace and prosperity, however, these have become elusive due to war
and conflicts,” regretted President Mamnoon Hussain.
He reiterated that destiny of the people in region was linked
with each other and it is only through mutual cooperation that they
can fight poverty, unemployment, climate change, militancy and other
public issues.
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