APA pledges sustainable development in Asia

QUETTA: The Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA) on Tuesday issued a declaration under which all countries in the region would continue working for collective sustainable development in Asia.

“We will take cooperation forward, synergise resources and efforts, and support each other,” states the declaration adopted on the second day of the three-day APA Standing Committee on Political Affairs conference in Gwadar on Tuesday.

Eighty-eight delegates from 23 countries and the secretary general of the Inter-Parliamentary Union were in attendance.

The delegates also lent a hand to Pakistan’s national drive towards tree plantation campaign in order to put a check on the challenges of climate change.



Addressing the conference, Senate Chairman Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani expressed his gratitude that the statement made by the Pakistani delegation (which was adopted by this gathering) not only recorded the highest-ever participation in the APA committee meetings, but also encompassed all the achievements made by the event.

Sanjrani, who is also the acting president, said, “We must, under the umbrella of the APA, accord top priority to highlight and address issues of human rights violations as they not only negate democracy, but also stand as a hurdle to peace, prosperity and inclusive development.”
The conference also passed a resolution titled ‘Towards an Asian Parliament’ approved by an APA plenary held in 2017. The resolution will now be open to any further amendments after the member parliaments hold necessary discussions.
The resolution was proposed by Pakistan and was adopted as part of the Lahore Declaration on December 3, 2014 and hence had led to having a Special Committee on Creation of Asian Parliament (SCCAP).



Another resolution on ‘Development through Democracy’ tabled before the committee by Pakistan was welcomed by the member countries, which principally consented to the view adopted by Pakistan in the resolution.

The resolution will now be considered again in the next meeting of the standing committee on political affairs.

The resolution stresses that regional disparities in economic development are among the leading causes of marginalisation of efficacy and efficiency of democratic set-ups hence requiring affirmative action’s to bring equitable and judicious development across the region.

The conference was chaired by Leader of the House in Senate Senator Syed Shibli Faraz. Faraz, who is also the chairman of SCCAP, admired the commitment, participation and high-level engagement of all delegates and the member states.