Pakistani Senate delegation participate in Asia Parliamentary Assembly meeting

Ankara: Senator Dr. Muhammad Jahangir Bader and Senator Muhammad Rafique Rajwana are representing Pakistan in the Asia Parliamentary Assembly’s Standing Committee Meeting on Political Affairs being held from 14-15 May 2014 at Ankara, Turkey. The event is hosted by the Turkish Parliament.

Senator Jehangir Bader, representing Chairman Senate Syed Nayyer Hussain Bokhari, who is the elected President of Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA), addressed the inaugural session of the meeting. At the onset, he conveyed condolences of the Pakistani nation and Pakistani Parliament over the tragic incident of Soma, Manisa where over 280 miners lost their lives and many more are still trapped inside.

Senator Jehangir Bader said APA is the institutional voice of the Asian people. The present century belongs to Asia in the fields of development, human rights and fighting against terrorism, said the Senator. He said the vision of President of APA is to evolve this platform into an Asian Parliament.

Senator Muhammad Rafique Rajwana in his address suggested that APA should make its own Chamber of Commerce & Industry giving representation to each country through already functional Chambers. He offered the expertise of Pakistan in establishing the proposed APA Chamber.

The Pakistan delegation also suggested to constitute a group of eminent and skilled persons of APA member countries to develop a vision for a more peaceful Asia in line with the decision of the 6^th APA Plenary held at Islamabad