{"id":2482,"date":"2012-11-06T14:47:42","date_gmt":"2012-11-06T09:17:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistanhc.lk\/?p=2482"},"modified":"2020-01-09T00:20:24","modified_gmt":"2020-01-08T18:50:24","slug":"pakistans-president-urges-saarc-parliamentarians-to-play-active-role-for-better-ties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pakistanhc.lk\/?p=2482","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan’s President urges SAARC parliamentarians to play active role for better ties"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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\u00a0\"Pakistan's<\/a><\/div>\n
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President Asif Ali Zardari has urged\u00a0the parliamentarians from the SAARC countries to play their proactive role\u00a0in forging better bilateral relations and addressing inter-state issues to ensure peace, progress and prosperity in the region.\u00a0Addressing the inaugural ceremony of three-day sixth conference of the Association of SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians here at Aiwan-e-Sadr on Sunday, the President said that the region should adopt a collective approach to face the common challenges and explore the opportunities for the benefit of the people.
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He said that the SAARC parliaments should plan and lead efforts for solving complex issues by protecting political liberties, human freedoms and the rule of law to promote regional peace and security.
\nThe President said that Pakistan was committed to the SAARC Charter and believed that durable peace in the region was in the interest of all.
\nHe urged the regional countries to join hands to fight the menace of extremism and terrorism. No country had suffered so much from it as Pakistan. \u201cWe have lost more than 40,000 innocent lives in addition to Rs.80 billion in economic terms.\u201d
\nHe said that there was a need to address the issue of illegal drug trafficking, which was serving as a financial source for militancy.
\nEmphasizing upon greater people-to-people contacts between the regional countries, the President said that dialogue among the SAARC parliamentarians would have a long lasting and positive impact on the situation in the region and help achieve the ideals of peace and stability.
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He pointed out that the SAARC had a population of 1.6 billion and the SAARC\u00a0parliaments should come up with a strategy to ensure food security for the region.
\nReferring to democratic transition in South Asia, the President said that democracy\u00a0was a prerequisite for economic development and political stability. Strong parliaments play a crucial role in ushering in reforms and ensuring efficiency andtransparency of the governing structures, he added.
\nHe said that the government in Pakistan had taken bold decisions to empower the Parliament. A democratically elected government was nearing the completion of its term and soon Pakistan would achieve a peaceful democratic transition. \u201cWe are well on our way to realizing democracy\u2019s dividends,\u201d he added.
\nThe President said that some people might feel that the Parliament was still under assault from some quarters, but these were the teething troubles of a genuine democratic transition. These are the dying kicks of an old order, he added.
\nHe said that the South Asia of today had undergone a democratic transformation.
\nThe Association of SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians is a vital instrument for promoting contacts between the peoples of the region, he added.
\nHe said that the Association of SAARC Parliaments had a great potential. By building consensus the SAARC parliamentarians could lay the basis for solid cooperation among the member states.
\nHe said that the changing political and economic landscape had enhanced\u00a0the role of the SAARC parliaments.
\nHe said that the SAARC parliaments were now well placed to plan and lead efforts for solving complex issues besetting the region.
\nThe President said that the SAARC parliaments could help sensitise public opinion for the achievement of the common goals.
\nHe said that heroine was developed by the international community as a war weapon against the rival ideology in the region.\u00a0 The weapon of war had still not been dismantled. \u201cTogether we must dismantle this war weapon. Pakistan seeks support of SAARC countries against illegal drugs and in the fight against terrorism and militancy.\u201d
\nPresident Zardari said that the SAARC parliaments had to come up with\u00a0a well thought-out strategy to ensure food security for the region.
\nThere are serious challenges in the way but there are also great opportunities\u00a0and together \u201cwe need to face the common challenges\u201d, he added.
\nHe said that there was a need to adopt a collective approach through\u00a0positive actions by the parliaments to achieve the targets.
\nHe said that the cultural affinity among the peoples was a huge asset\u00a0and shared geography and history were real assets.
\nThe President, while quoting from a speech of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, said that she also emphasized for better cooperation among the members of the SAARC.
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Benazir Bhutto while addressing a conference in India a few months before her assassination five years ago, said, \u201cTime stands still for no one. The moving finger of history writes and having written, moves on. We have a choice. The choice is ours to write a success story of free markets, liberty, human rights, gender equality, common values of tolerance and understanding\u201d, he added.
\nHe said that it was the responsibility of the parliamentarians of the region to realize the choice as mentioned by Benazir Bhutto.President Zardari said that by protecting political liberties, human freedoms and the rule of law the parliaments could promote regional peace and security.
\nHe said that Pakistan strongly believed in the promise of\u00a0multilateralism. States can achieve more together than they can individually, he\u00a0added.
\nThe President said,\u201dMore we cooperate the more the space for unilateral action is reduced\u201d and added that cooperation did not mean uniformity or conformity.
\nHe said that the cooperation among the SAARC member states signified harmony, tolerance and respect for diversity.
\n\u201cWe have tried it in our domestic politics and found it holding great promise. We believe it also holds great promise in inter-state relations,\u201d said the President.
\nEarlier, Speaker of the National Assembly and Chairperson of 6th\u00a0Conference of the Association of SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians\u00a0Dr. Fehmida Mirza, in her welcome address, said that parliaments, which were\u00a0voices of the people, were most important forum to exchange views and discuss the regional issues.
\nShe said that Pakistan had a strong democratic system and appreciated the decision of President Asif Ali Zardari for surrendering his powers voluntarily to the Parliament.
\nShe said that the SAARC, which represented 20 percent population\u00a0of the world, had great potential to further enhance and promote relations\u00a0among the member states,\u00a0Dr. Fehmida Mirza said unity and close cooperation among the SAARC members would further make the voice of the region stronger at the international forum.
\nReferring to many challenges like poverty, hunger and education, being faced by the SAARC member countries, the NA Speaker said that with better cooperation and interaction, the region could easily over power these challenges.
\nShe said that the parliaments, being the sole representatives of the people of the region, could provide guidelines to face the challenges and promote progress and prosperity in the region.
\nThe Speaker appreciated the efforts of the members of the SAARC parliaments to convene first ever meeting of the women parliamentarians here at Islamabad on Sunday, which she hoped, would further improve the contacts between the SAARC members.
\nIndian Lok Sabha Speaker Ms Meira Kumar, addressing on the occasion, said that being representatives of the people, the parliamentarians should play their proactive role to meet expectations of the people.
\nShe said increased interaction among the SAARC member countries would help learn from each others\u2019 experiences and find solutions of daunting challenges.
\nShe said, \u201cWe need to protect and uphold the democratic institutions\u201d and hoped that the conference would come up with concrete suggestions for the protection of parliamentary democracy in the region.
\nMs Meira Kumar appreciated the steps taken by President Asif Ali Zardari for the promotion of democracy in the country.
\nBangladesh Speaker Abdul Wahid, in his remarks, said that democracy\u00a0was a prerequisite for peace and development in the region. The current session\u00a0of the association will go a long way in further strengthening democracy in the\u00a0region, she added.
\nSpeaker of Bhutan Lyonpo Jigme Tshultim said that the three-day deliberations would provide an excellent opportunity to the member countries to share their success stories and knowledge about the parliamentary democracy.
\nSpeaker of Maldives Abdullah Shahid said that democracy needed to be\u00a0strengthened to address problems of the people.
\nCooperation among the SAARC member countries is imperative to address the economic as well as other challenges, he added.
\nDeputy Speaker of Sri Lanka Chandima Weerakkody emphasized the need for empowerment of youth and women to achieve the true dividends of democracy.
\nEarlier, Speakers of the SAARC countries held a meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari and discussed ways and means to further enhance people-to-people contacts among the regional countries.
\nThe inaugural ceremony of 6th Conference of Speakers and Parliamentarians of SAARC was also attended by the members of the parliament, federal ministers, diplomats, senior government officials and all members of the delegations of the conference.
\nThe President also hosted a reception for the participants.\u00a0On this occasion he mixed up with them and exchanged views on various matters.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 President Asif Ali Zardari has urged\u00a0the parliamentarians from the SAARC countries to play their proactive role\u00a0in forging better bilateral relations and addressing inter-state issues to ensure peace, progress and prosperity in the region.\u00a0Addressing the inaugural ceremony of three-day sixth […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2483,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,63],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pakistanhc.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2482"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pakistanhc.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pakistanhc.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pakistanhc.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pakistanhc.lk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2482"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.pakistanhc.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2482\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8414,"href":"https:\/\/www.pakistanhc.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2482\/revisions\/8414"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pakistanhc.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pakistanhc.lk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pakistanhc.lk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pakistanhc.lk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}