ISTANBUL, 12 October 2019: The Speaker
National Assembly of Pakistan, Hon. Asad Qaiser, has called on the
international community to address the prevailing grave human rights and
humanitarian situation in the Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IOJ&K) as
well as to uphold the inalienable right to self-determination of the Kashmiris.
The Speaker National Assembly was speaking
at the Third Conference of the Speakers
of the Parliaments on Countering Terrorism and Strengthening Regional
Connectivity, which was held at
Istanbul today. The Conference was also attended by the Speakers of the
Parliaments of Turkey, Afghanistan, and Russia, as well as Vice Speaker of
Chinese National People’s Congress. The Speakers’ Conference is a platform
conceived and established by the Parliament of Pakistan, with its inaugural
meeting held in Islamabad in 2017.
Addressing the opening and closing sessions
of the Conference, the Speaker National Assembly highlighted the worsening
situation in the Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir. He emphasized that the
unilateral and illegal actions of India of 5 August 2019, and the subsequent
imposition of virtual blockade of over 8 million Kashmiris, posed a grave risk
for the regional peace and security.
The Speaker reiterated that being one of
the biggest victims of terrorism, Pakistan was determined to root out the
menace. Pakistan had rendered numerous sacrifices in the fight against
terrorism and had successfully turned the tide against it.
Terming connectivity as one of the
foundation stones of the regional peace and prosperity, the Speaker highlighted
the progress being made by Pakistan under the flagship China-Pakistan Economic
Corridor (CPEC) project. He said that
Pakistan would continue to take steps towards greater regional connectivity,
including by making the Conference of the
Speakers of the Parliaments on Countering Terrorism and Strengthening Regional
Connectivity more effective and responsive to the regional needs.
The conference, at its conclusion, endorsed
the Islamabad and Tehran Declarations of 2017 and 2018 respectively, which
among other things call for the resolution of the Jammu & Kashmir dispute
in accordance with the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions.
The outcome document also underscored the
need for all States to avoid politicization of the UN Sanctions regime as well
as the work of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
Led by the Speaker National Assembly,
Pakistan’s Parliamentary delegation to the Conference also comprised of the
Deputy Chairman Senate, Saleem Mandviwalla; the Chairman of the National Assembly’s
Standing Committee on Kashmir, Syed Fakhar Imam; former Speaker National
Assembly, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq; Senator Lt. General (Rtd) Abdul Qayyum; Senator
Mian Muhammad Ateeq Shaikh; Senator Rana Maqbool; Chairman of National
Assembly’s Foreign Relations Committee, Malik Muhammad Ehsan Ullah Tiwana; and
Ms. Shazia Marri (MNA).
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