Islamabad, Nov 9: Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani Thursday said things were moving in the “right direction” in the Indo-Pak dialogue process and this has increased the importance and effectiveness of SAARC.
“Naturally, Pakistan and India have a dialogue procedure under which everything is going in the right direction,” Gilani told reporters in Lahore before leaving for the Maldives on a three-day visit to attend a summit meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
 The importance and effectiveness of SAARC had increased following the ongoing dialogue process between Pakistan and India, he said.
 SAARC had earlier been losing its effectiveness and could not move forward due to the tense relations between the two major countries of South Asia, he said.
 India and Pakistan resumed their peace process, which had stalled in the wake of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, in February this year.
 The two sides have held several rounds of talks and agreed to boost bilateral trade to USD six billion in three years.
 Gilani said SAARC’s value and importance had increased manifold since Pakistan and India started discussing their mutual disputes at the negotiating table.
 The Pakistan People’s Party-led government has been giving significance to SAARC, Gilani added.
 “I have never missed any SAARC conference since I became the Prime Minister,” Gilani said.
 Responding to a question, he said: “We will definitely focus on the conference’s theme of ‘Building Bridges’ by discussing all possible ways and means for mutual cooperation through rail, road and sea routes”.
 A 12-member delegation, including Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Communications Minister Arbab Alamgir and Ports and Shipping Minister Babar Khan Ghori, accompanied the Prime Minister to the Maldives.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 9 Nov 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 9 Nov 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 10 Nov 2011 00:00:00 IST