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South Asian moot on Peace, goodwill

Shaukat warns against

danger of neglecting

human development

RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: The neglect of human development has gone too far. It will be dangerous to test the patience of teeming millions to endure the sufferings any longer, said Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz on Thursday.

He was addressing the International goodwill conference on "Peace, goodwill and fellowship" organised by the Rotary International.

Leaders of the South Asian region countries will have to make hard choices in the days ahead, said Aziz. Peace in the region can release enormous burdens presently carried by these countries to guard against the mistrust that infests their relations.

Human development can turn this region into a bastion of economic activities. The recent advances taking place around us in the field of computer technology clearly show that the South Asia has the potential to bridge even the bigger technological gap that it faces vis-a-vis the developed world, provided it demonstrates as ability to put its house in order.

With so much good that peace can bring about, why have we failed to ensure its existence? he asked.

"We have faced problems both at home as well as across borders in terms of our ability to ensure peace. The problems of peace are not merely limited to inter-country issues. There are active movements within each of us that threaten to undermine our internal peace," said the minister.

He also explained the agenda of the government and expressed hope that the government will achieve its targets.

"For creation of opportunities, our economic revival plan has focused on such sectors which represented country's comparative advantage," he added.

Our people have suffered for too long. We may have meagre resources but have not ensured their equitable distribution across our people.

We see pockets of extreme poverty or islands of riches. Such massive differences in the income levels of our people are not sustainable.

"We have to devote considerable resources to defend our sovereignty and build a credible deterrence," said Shaukat.