ISLAMABAD, MAR 14, (DNA) – A three-day meeting of the special committee on creation of Asian Parliament and Asian Parliamentary Assembly Standing Committee on political affairs is underway in Islamabad.

Chairman Senate Mian Raza Rabbani and Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq jointly inaugurated the event which is scheduled to last till March 17.

Over 70 delegates from twenty-three Asian countries, including members of parliament and speakers, are participating in the meeting.

Indian parliamentarians including Shashi Tharoor, Meenakshi Lekhi and Swapan Dasgupta are also present.

Addressing the inaugural session, Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq stressed the need for working together for achieving the desired goal of regional peace, development and prosperity.

He said APA member states should intervene for peaceful solution of all outstanding disputes in accordance with UN resolution and as per aspirations of the people.

We must work together for confronting shared challenges of terrorism, extremism, poverty and climate change, he added.

On the occasion, Chairman Senate Mian Raza Rabbani expressed the confidence that the special committee on creation of Asian Parliament would make a positive beginning towards the cherished objective.

He said it would be unrealistic to expect a blueprint of the Asian Parliament at the conclusion of the session but we should move towards narrowing our differences.

The Asian Parliamentary Assembly dates back to September 1999 when a group of Asian Parliamentarians decided to join hands for promoting peace and human rights in Dhaka, Bangladesh, by setting up the Association of Asian Parliaments for Peace (AAPP), which was later converted to APA in 2004.=DNA

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