ISLAMABAD: Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser returned home after participation in the 4th Meeting of the Speakers of Eurasian Countries’ Parliaments held from September 23 – 25, 2019 in Nur Sultan, the capital city of Kazakhstan.
The deliberations of the Summit focused on the theme of Greater Eurasia: Dialogue. Trust. Partnership.
The objective of the Eurasian Conference, an initiative of Russia, was to increase the dialogue and trust among the parliaments of Europe and Asia for greater participation and cooperation. The Presiding Officers of the Eurasian Countries’ Parliaments emphasized on the need for paving the way to build a shared vision and suggest way to ensure sustainable development of the Eurasian region.
Speaker National Assembly, Asad Qaiser shaking hand with Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Volodin on the sidelines of Eurasian Conference at Nur Sultan (Astana) in Kazakhistan
During his address at Forum, the Pakistan Speaker highlighted the opportunities and challenges facing the region in the context of globalization and highlighted that Pakistan’s policy towards promoting regional cooperation was quite coherent. While expressing his concern over the Indian atrocities in the Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir, he urged the global community to exercise pressure on the Indian government to revoke its unilateral decision of refuting special status of the IOJ&K.
Asad Qaiser also condemned the complete clampdown in the occupied territory for almost two month and alarmed the participants that it can turn into humanitarian crisis in the region. During his speech, the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha of India, Harivansh Narayan Singh tried to disrupt the process by raising his baseless point of order but the attempt was declined by the Chair of Conference and the Speaker National Assembly of Pakistan continued to expose the real face of India before the parliaments of the world.
Alongside the participation in the Conference, the Speaker of Pakistan also met his Counterparts from various countries including Kazakhstan, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and UAE.
The Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Mustafa Shentop said that Turkey will extend it all out support to Pakistan against India. He referred to the telephonic conversation between the President of Turkey and Prime Minister of Pakistan immediately after August 5 development and said that it reflected the concern of Turkey over the human rights violations in the Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir.
An important highlight of his meeting with the Russian Speaker, Vyacheslav Volodin was the Russian agreement on abstaining India from joining the Regional Conference on Countering Terrorism and Strengthening Regional Connectivity. The Speaker National Assembly said that the next meeting of the Regional Forum was scheduled next month in Istanbul and the participation of India in that Conference would derail the process. They also decide to establish Joint Parliamentary Commissions to constantly cooperation with each other on issues of mutual interest.
During his meeting with Dr. Abdullah Mohammed Ibrahim Al-Sheikh, Chairman of the Majlis Ash Shura of Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Speaker assured of their full cooperation to Pakistan at all regional and international forums on the issue of Jammu & Kashmir. He further proposed that the Parliament of Pakistan may immediately convene a Conference on Kashmir so that the exact situation in the disputed territory could be placed before the participants of friendly countries and collective strategy could be devised for countering Indian aggression.
He also invited the Speaker National Assembly to lead a parliamentary delegation to Saudi Arabia during the month of November 2019 for signing a MoU between the Legislatures of two countries so that important issues like IOJ&K could be addressed through joint efforts.
The Speaker National Assembly also congratulated the Speaker of the Mazhilis (Parliament) of Kazakhstan, Mr. Nurlan Nigmatulin on successful hosting of the Conference and also thanked him for the hospitality. Speaker Asad Qasier lauded the idea of fostering dialogue, trust and partnership among the Eurasian Countries.
He referred to the Indian aggression in the IOJ&K and said that the recent acts of violence by India in the Occupied Jammu & Kashmir and also on the opposite side of the line of control has further aggravated the situation in the region. The Kazakh Speaker emphasized on the need for resolving the outstanding issue of IOJ&K and said that the dispute required a political solution rather than war. He, therefore, stressed upon resolving the issue through peaceful means.
The Speaker also said that there was a huge potential in enhancing relations, specifically in the fields of trade and investment, communication, defence and security. He said that the national carriers of the two countries should operate directly to each other’s cities for improving connectivity between the two friendly countries.
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Immediately after return from Kazakhstan, the Speaker Asad Qasier has directed the Chairmen of the Standing Committees on Foreign Affairs and Commerce to immediately workout a befitting plan of action for promoting ties with Kazakhstan both at government and parliamentary levels for the benefit of the people of two countries.
INP
