Islamabad, Dec 6 (IANS): Pakistan will push for inclusion of eight more of its sites in the list of Unesco's world heritage sites.
"These sites are of national and cultural universal importance, and will attract tourists from across borders -- that will help Pakistan generate income and improve its soft image," Dawn online quoted ministry of heritage joint secretary Mirza Mashood Ahmed as saying on Saturday.
The eight new sites recommended by experts were Central Karakoram National Park, Juniper Forest in Ziarat, Deosai National Park, Karez System, the ancient city of Bhambhore in Sindh, Hingol National Park, Kallar Kahar's Salt Range and Nagar Parkar in Sindh.
Pakistan has been pushing Unesco for over a decade to include 18 sites of universal significance to its list.
The recommendations were rejected because the proposed sites did not meet Unesco's criteria for world heritage sites.
"The recommended sites and monuments were not maintained by the state and were missing public facilities and infrastructure such as roads, museums and information centres," archaeologist Ayesha Pamela Rogers said.
She said another significant reason for failure was the lack of resources which were needed to prepare impressive dossier for the proposed sites.
She said she was optimistic about the eight recommendations, which fit Unesco's criteria. "I would be surprised if they are not considered world heritage," she said.
Rogers explained that pushing Unesco to enlist sites was an arduous and time consuming task.
She said the first step was submission of dossiers to be included in the tentative list. Six sites in Pakistan have already been marked as world heritage sites.
The sites are Lahore Fort, Shalimar Gardens, Rohtas Fort, the ruins at Mohenjodaro, Taxila, the Buddhist ruins of Takht-i-Bahi, and the historical monuments at Makli.
Pakistan recently conducted a three-day workshop for archaeologists and cultural experts from all the provinces, to make them understand how to select important sites that could be added to the world heritage list.