1st SAARC Young Parliamentarians’ Conference 2016 concludes in Islamabad

Lahore : Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has expressed his belief that it is up to the parliamentarians to resolve the issues in the battlefield or through dialogue. He stressed on the need to give a fair share to women in the politics as well as in the inter-parliamentary delegations within the SAARC region.He was addressing the closing ceremony of the 1^st SAARC Young Parliamentarians’ Conference 2016 in Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary services (PIPS) Islamabad.

Speaking on the occasion, the Speaker also apprised to the audience that Pakistan has been the biggest victim of the terrorism and after a long and hard struggle it is restrained to an appreciable extent. He also condemned the recent terrorist attacks in Quetta, Paris and Brussels. “Terrorists have no religion and no nationality. We have to work together to tackle this curse jointly”, the speaker added.

He termed the youth to be the decisive power and urged them to actively involve themselves in politics. “The Youth should hold us accountable wherever we go wrong” he said. The Speaker also desired that the foreign delegates should interact with the youth of the country by visiting different universities. Sardar Ayaz Sadiq also extended his invitation again to the Speakers of all SAARC countries to visit Pakistan to change the negative perception they might have due to the picture portrayed by the international media.

While addressing the ceremony,the Speaker appreciated the organisers of the conference for organizing the event in a befitting manner. He also commended and greatly lauded the efforts of MNA Malik Muhammad Uzair Khan on working tirelessly to make the conference a huge success.

The heads of delegates fully endorsed the Joint Islamabad Communiqué. They thanked the members of Parliament from Pakistan to have made their stay a memorable one. Expressing joy over their experience of visiting Pakistan they said that they came here with a different perception but leaving with a different and much improved opinion.

The convener of the conference Malik Uzair presented the conference declaration. He emphasised on the need to institutionalise the SAARC Young Parliamentarians Forum. The Heads of Delegates of the SAARC countries ensure the full commitment to enforce their respective part of the declaration and desired that the same should not be reduced to the paper but also implemented in letter and spirit for increased cooperation, coordination and dialogue between the SAARC countries.

A unanimous decision to hold the meetings of SAARC Young Parliamentarians on a regular basis was also taken by the delegates. The two day conference ended with a pledge and promise to present the recommendations of this conference in the SAARC summit to be held in November this year in Pakistan.