DOCUMENT No. 3 

President, General Pervez Musharraf ’s Remarks at Concluding Session of 11^th SAARC Summit, Kathmandu, Nepal

January 6, 2002 

 I consider it a special privilege and pleasure to propose a vote of thanks to Excellency Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba for hosting of the Eleventh SAARC Summit in Kathmandu and for the most comprehensive and inspiring concluding remarks. The honour bestowed on me has enhanced manifold by the fact that I carry out this welcome duty on behalf of the excellencies the Presidents of the Maldives, and Sri Lanka, Excellency Prime Minister of Bangladesh and India, His Excellency the Chairman of the Council of the Ministers of Bhutan and of course on behalf of Pakistan. It is a matter of immense satisfaction for all of us that the Eleventh SAARC Summit proceeded smoothly and is coming to a successful conclusion. This has been possible in very large measure due to ability and skill with which the PM of Nepal steered our deliberations. His deep understanding of the affairs of the region and his constructive approach has infused SAARC association with new spirit and sense of optimism. I will be missing in my duty if I do not place on record the collective debt of gratitude that we all owe to his Majesty King Briendara Bikram Shahdev for his guidance to this Summit. On behalf of all the heads of state and government of member states of SAARC and on my own behalf, I would like to express the desire that the PM of Nepal will continue to take an active interest in the working and the progress of SAARC.

We also wish his Majesty good health, happiness and a long and benign reign that brings increasing prosperity to the people of Nepal. Our profound thanks are also due to the Chairman of the Council of the Ministers and other functionaries of Nepal government who, through their tireless and dedicated efforts, made excellent arrangements to make our stay more comfortable and the work of the summit and the preparatory meetings smooth and seamless. The spontaneous and warm welcome accorded to us by the friendly people of Nepal and the keen interest taken by them in the proceedings of the Summit have made our visit all the more memorable. I am confident that I reflect the feeling of all my distinguished colleagues in saying that we have been truly charmed by the beauty of Nepal and friendliness of its people. This being my first visit to Nepal, I now fully appreciate the wisdom of the founding fathers of SAARC in choosing Kathmandu as the seat of our association.

The retreat last evening afforded us an excellent opportunity to exchange views in a very relaxed atmosphere. The only regret I say is that we could not enjoy the lovely setting of Nagarkot for this purpose. May be, I myself, is to be blamed for the late arrival on the first day because of bad weather conditions in China. The declaration that we have agreed to adopt is a constructive and forward-looking document. We are grateful to all those who helped us in its preparation. We should now move with determination to translate the declaration into reality. It is my firm conviction that South Asia is blessed with every resource and that our region has the capability to emerge out of poverty and under-development and move rapidly on the road to socio-economic progress of our people. I am equally aware of our weakness and the impediment in the way of our common march ahead are well known to all of us. We have to join hands to remove them. If there is no durable peace, there will be little progress. If bilateral differences continue unresolved, genuine cooperation will remain an elusive dream. We need to show sincerity among ourselves for the greater good of the South Asian region. I would like to conclude with a small prayer: May ‘New Year’ prove auspicious for our countries, our people and our association. May we all be endowed with the wisdom and the courage to settle all our differences amicably on the basis of justice and fair play. May violence and use of force be eradicated from our region. May the people of South Asia progress and prosper. And, may peace and harmony prevail in South Asia.n

http://www.pak.gov.pk/public/pres-remarks-saarc.htm