Talking to William Hague, Shadow Foreign Secretary of the Conservative Party of UK ,who called on him here, the PM said Pakistan and UK have special relations covering political, diplomatic, economic, defence, security, social and cultural and educational fields and Pakistan desires to further strengthen this relationship.
Expansion of bilateral relations especially the issue of better market access for Pakistani products in the markets of European Union countries, regional and international issues came under discussion.
Giving a brief account of the regional situation, the prime minister said, Pakistan is engaged in a dialogue process with India for the resolution of all outstanding issues including the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir.
The prime minister said sustainable peace in South Asia would be possible only after the resolution of Kashmir issue in line with the wishes and aspirations of the people of Kashmir.
Aziz said substantial progress has been made on the confidence building measures and now the two countries need to move from conflict management to conflict resolution.
He said President General Pervez Musharraf's proposals for self governance and demilitarisation in Kashmir can form the basis for a meaningful dialogue to arrive at a just settlement of Kashmir dispute acceptable to all sides i.e. Pakistan, India and the people of Kashmir.
About Afghanistan, the prime minister said Pakistan wants to see peace, stability and development in Afghanistan and added that peace, security and normalisation in Afghanistan is as much in Pakistan's interest as it is in the interest of the people of Afghanistan.
The prime minister said Iran is Pakistan's important neighbour and the two countries enjoy good relations.
He said Pakistan is against nuclear proliferation but recognises Iran's right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards. Pakistan is against the use of force against Iran and the issue should be resolved through diplomatic means, the prime minister added.
Talking of the terrorism issue the prime minister said Pakistan abhors terrorism and alongwith international community, fighting against it, however, he added the world also needs to address the root causes of terrorism, which stem from a feeling of deprivation, lack of dispute resolution and sense of marginalisation of the affected communities.
The prime minister said the erroneous linking of Islam with terrorism should be discouraged.
"Islam is a religion of peace and propagates tolerance, interfaith harmony and compassion" said the prime minister.
He said the world needs to work harder to create interfaith, inter civilisation and inter cultural harmony among people belonging to different faiths to make the world a harmonious and secure place to live.
The prime minister said that as a result of the far-reaching reforms introduced by the government in every facet of life, Pakistan has been transformed into a country having high growth and ranked among the top ten reforming countries of the world.
He said the total size of economy that is presently US $ 135 billion which has doubled during the last seven years and per capita income has risen to US $ 847.
Aziz said the government is acting on an agenda of growth with dignity and equity.
He said the government is trying to impact the life of common man by providing them more economic opportunities and better facilities of health, education, electricity clean drinking water and better infrastructures.
He said poverty has come down from 34.46 percent in 2001 to 23.9 percent in 2006 and all social indicators are also moving up.
"Pakistan of toady and tomorrow is not the Pakistan of yesterday. It has a bright future and hope for the people ", the prime minister said.
He asked Mr. William Hague to help Pakistan get better market access in UK and other European Union countries and said better market access is the best way to promote development and prosperity in the developing countries.
Talking of Pakistan's transition to democracy, the prime minister said Pakistan is an evolving democracy, has an actively functioning parliament and the press enjoys unprecedented freedom, which is contributing to the strengthening of democracy in the country.
The prime minister talked of the steps taken by the government for the social, economic and political empowerment of women and said that parliament today has more female parliamentarians then the parliaments of many other countries.
The cabinet has seven female Ministers, the prime minister added.
William Hague said Britain values its relationship with Pakistan and there is an agreement between the government and the opposition to further strengthen this relationship.
He said Britain is pleased with economic development taking place in Pakistan and will continue to provide all support and assistance to it.
The meeting was attended among others by Foreign Secretary and senior officials.

Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2006