President Ahmadinejad: Culture Makes Worldˈs Future, Not A-bomb

Tehran, May 8, IRNA – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad underlined the peaceful nature of Iranˈs nuclear program, and the future of the world is made by culture and not atomic bombs. President Ahmadinejad made the remarks in a meeting with culture ministers of the Asian Cooperation Dialog (ACD) here in Tehran on Tuesday. ˈThe future of the world does not depend on atomic bomb, missiles and military hardware,ˈ President Ahmadinejad said. As regards ACD, the Iranian president said that the Asian Cooperation Dialog is a constructive movement for further solidarity and broader cooperation at the Asian level. The 1st meeting of the culture ministers of the Asian Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) opened here today. Culture ministers from 32 ACD member states review cultural interactions during the two-day event. The ACD meeting will also focus on womenˈs role in promoting Asian culture and expansion of cooperation among the member states. The ACD was formed in June 2002 in Cha-Am, Thailand, where 18 Asian Foreign Ministers met together for the first time. The ACD is a continent-wide forum, the first of its kind in Asia. More specifically, the ACD aims to constitute the missing link in Asia by incorporating every Asian country and building an Asian Community without duplicating other organizations or creating a bloc against others. The ACD member states include Iran, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, The Philippines, Singapore, Cambodia, Brunei, Mongolia, Bhutan, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Qatar, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, UAE and Bahrain./end