A two-day Pakistan-Afghanistan Parliamentarians Security Dialogue will open on Tuesday (today) with focus on tackling terrorism as a common challenge, strengthening mutual co-operation in various fields and increasing parliamentary interaction between the two neighbouring countries.
A 16-member Afghan parliamentary delegation, led by Senator Baz Mohammad Zurmati, member, International Affairs Commission, Meshrano Jirga and Abdul Qader Zazai, Chairman, International Affairs Commission, Wolesi Jirga, is in Islamabad for the dialogue.
The delegation comprises members of both the Meshrano Jirga (Upper House) and Wolesi Jirga (Lower House) of the Afghan Parliament, who will take part in the discussion with their Pakistan counterparts.
The dialogue is being co-hosted by Senate Standing Committee on Defence and Parliamentary Friendship Group on Afghanistan and facilitated by PILDAT as part of its Pakistan-Afghanistan Parliamentarians' Exchange.
Meanwhile, Senate Standing Committee on Defence Chairman Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed hosted a lunch for the visiting delegation at the Parliament House.
Speaking on the occasion, Mushahid underscored the need for increased bilateral co-operation between Pakistan and Afghanistan to eliminate terrorism, which he termed a common enemy of both the countries.
Mushahid, who is also co-chair of the Parliamentary Security Dialogue, said that there was a paradigm shift in Pakistan's approach, bidding goodbye to notions of "strategic depth" as well as distinction between "good/bad terrorists".
"Pak-Afghan relations are of paramount importance in Pakistan's foreign policy and there is a complete consensus among all Pakistani political parties for a peaceful Afghanistan," he said, adding that in the next year more bilateral co-operation in security issues and military-to-military relations was expected.
He stated that the national poet of Pakistan, Allama Iqbal, had predicted nearly 80 years ago that peace, stability and prosperity in Asia would be linked with a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan.
Leader of Afghan Parliamentary delegation, Senator Baz Mohammad Zurmati also spoke on the occasion and assured full support of the Afghan government to root out the menace of terrorism.
He also condemned the tragic incident in Peshawar, saying that Afghan people were shocked over the brutal act of terrorism.
He termed the dialogue an opportunity to bridge the gap and devise an effective strategy to counter terrorists, which he said were targeting our future generation. He also stressed the need for government-to-government and people-to-people contacts between the two counties to collectively defeat the menace of terrorism and extremism.
Leader of the House in Senate Raja Mohammad Zafar-ul-Haq, Senator Farhatullah Babar, Senator Afrasiab Khattak, Senator Haji Mohammad Adeel, Senator Zahid Khan, Senator Abbas Khan Afridi, Senator Saeeda Iqbal, Senator Nuzhat Sadiq, Senator Surriya Amiruddin, Senator Tahir Hussain Mashhadi, Senator Begum Najma Hameed, Senator Rubina Khalid, Senator Khalida Parveen and others were also present on the occasion.
The Afghan delegation included: Senator Mohammad Hassan Hotak, Senator Fowzea Saadat Zamkanai, Senator Mir Bahador Wasifi, Senator Ghulam Mohaiudin Monsef, Senator Rana Tareen, Senator Lutfullah Baba from Meshrano Jirga and Ali Akbar Qasemi, Qudratullah Zaki, Gul Badshah Majidi, Sayed Nader Shah Bahr, Mohammad Nazir Ahmadzai, Zakaria Zakaria, Baz Mohammad Jawzjani, Sherwali Wardak from Wolesi Jirga.
The secretariat staff accompanying the delegation from both Houses included: Abdul Wasi Fatah, Legislative Affairs Director, Meshrano Jirga, Mohammed Zaher Mushtaq, International Relations Director, Meshrano Jirga and Nezamudin Adel, Director General of International Relations Department, Wolesi Jirga.
Comments
Comments are closed.