Paris, July 03: Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf today insisted his country was on the path to democratisation, expressing confidence that its full membership in the 54-nation Commonwealth could soon be restored. "Actually, democracy has never been so strong in pakistan,” Musharraf told reporters at a breakfast meeting before attending a conference organised by French business leaders on investment in his country.
The Pakistani leader said he believed that Pakistan could soon be invited to participate as a full member of the Commonwealth, telling journalists, "I am very hopeful after my discussions with (British) Prime Minister Tony Blair." Musharraf's visit to France, which began yesterday, comes at the end of a four-nation tour that previously took him to Britain, the United States and Germany.
In May, Commonwealth foreign ministers welcomed democratic progress in Pakistan but failed to lift its suspension, saying it would be reviewed at their next meeting in September in New York. Pakistan was suspended from the Commonwealth after Musharraf took power in a 1999 military coup. Bureau Report