Pakistan face many challenges but has the potential and promise to overcome these with the passage of time by following rational policies, a former diplomat and minister told a seminar on "Pakistan: Perception and Reality" on Wednesday. The event was arranged by the Foreign Policy

Centre as a part of 60 years celebration of Pakistan's Independence. Pakistan High Commissioner to UK Dr.Maleeha Lodhi, Deputy High Commissioner Abdul Basit and other senior officials of the Commission were also present on the occasion.

Inamul Haque, a former Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and a Foreign Secretary, spoke on the topic of Reality of Pakistan's and narrated in details the dynamics of the world's second biggest Muslim country, which is also the sixth largest country population wise.

He admitted that though the country faced law and order situation, gender discrimination, extremism and sectarianism, the Government has been taking suitable measures to resolve them.

Pakistan, Haque said, was moving forward to further consolidate its democracy. The Parliament will complete its five years of existence for the first time in its history and the country was also getting ready to hold its Presidential and parliamentary elections in due course of time.

Media in Pakistan was completely free while the majority of the people are moderate and outwardly looking, he said. Regarding economy, he stated that it was buoyant and vibrant with the Government focusing on privatisation, deregularisation and liberalisation.

However, Haque who is currently the Chairman of the Board of Governors at the Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad, noted that Pakistan was both water and energy stressed.

He said the Government has taken steps to overcome its energy requirement and has recently decided to purchase electricity from Iran and may also purchase it from Tajikistan.

He was of the view that had Pakistan constructed enough water storage dams, the country would long have overcome its energy related problems.

Haque further said unstable Afghanistan was not in the interest of Pakistan which has been providing assistance to its western neighbor for the development of its infrastructure. He also noted Pakistan's key role in the war against terror and the steps taken by it to secure its western borders effectively.

On Indo-Pakistan relations, Haque said these were gradually improving with the start of the peace dialogues and the confidence building measures taken by the two countries.

Labour Party MP Sadiq Khan spoke on the contribution of British citizens of Pakistani origin and said they have made significant contribution in socio-economic life of Britain.

He said that over a period of time they have proven to be an important link between the two countries in promoting people to people friendship.

However, he emphasized on better employment opportunities for the Muslim women and said it was important for them to integrate into the British society for their own benefit and for the society.

Maria Sultan, Director, South Asian Strategic Stability Institute (SASSI), while speaking on Pakistan's security imperatives in national, regional and international context, said that perceptions as painted by the West are very different from the reality.

She explained the safety and command and control mechanism of Pakistan's nuclear assets and said there should be no concerns in this regard. She added that the country's nuclear assets have a sound regulatory infrastructure.

British woman MP Madeleine Moon recalled her recent visit to Pakistan and said this dispelled her previous impression about the South Asian country as projected by the British media.

The Wales MP said educational commitment of Pakistan government will lead the country to progress and enlightenment. She hoped that the Government will continue to pursue its present policies for the betterment of people particularly women's education and providing them equal opportunities to play their role in the national reconstruction.

She appreciated that due to the policies and efforts of present government, women empowerment has taken significant strides and today there are more women Parliamentarians in Pakistan than UK.

Professor Ian Talbot of the Southampton University, speaking on the occasion, said extremism is a serious threat in the way of progress. He said the majority of the people of Pakistan are moderate and progressive, but a small minority of extremists is jeopardizing country's progressive future.

In this regard he referred to the Lal Masjid incident and said that the Government needs to address such threats with prudence and firmness. Rejecting military means as the only options in the war against terror, he said Pakistan and the coalition forces in Afghanistan adopt multifaceted approach to deal with this scourge