SAARC Parliamentarians for Creating S Asian Union

2 June 2007: Simla

Parliamentarians representing all major parties and from all shades of opinions from the SAARC countries on Saturday expressed their commitment to act in accordance with the peoples' desire for shaping the future course to create a South Asian Union.

Participating in the Second South Asian Parliament conference, organized by South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) here, the parliamentarians have showed goodwill, farsightedness, flexibility and adjustment.

The conference, coinciding with the 150th anniversary of the historic Great War of Independence in 1857, also laid ground for hastening process for a South Asian Parliament.

Speaker of the Lok Sabha, lower house of the Indian parliament Somnath Chatterjee inaugurated the two-day conference at Simla, the former summer capital of British India and also the capital of Himachal Pradesh, where destiny of the sub-continent remained on negotiation table for several times.

This is the second meeting of its type-the first was held nearly two years ago at Bhurban, Pakistan. The theme of Saturday's conference is "Towards South Asian Unity".

During the conference, the parliamentarians, keeping in mind that the twenty-first century belongs to Asia, deliberated on the core issues which relate economic cooperation, mobility and connectivity and security in the SAARC region.

Presided over by President of SAFMA KK Katyal, the conference was addressed by Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Virbhadra Singh, Speaker of Sri Lankan Parliament WJ M Lokubandara, former Education Minister of Bangladesh Dr M. Osman Farruk, Pakistan opposition leader Maulana Fazal-ur- Rehman, Dr Mohammad Saleh Salzuqi of Afganistan, K. Keshab Rao of India, Mohammad Shihab of the Maldives, Madhav Kumar Nepal of Nepal, Tshering Tobgay of Bhutan, SAFMA General Secretary Imtiaz Alam and SAFMA General Secretary, India, Vinod Sharma.

The participants paid respect to the memory of all those who had laid down their lives in the Great War of Independence to secure freedom and dignity. National anthems of eight countries of SAARC were also played.

Chief Adviser of caretaker government of Bangladesh Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed sent a message to the two-day conference , wishing it a success.

He also reiterated Bangladesh's firm commitment to strengthen regional cooperation for the betterment of the people of this region.

In his speech, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chattarjee said even though many social and economic ills plaguing this region, the people are the real resources and leverage of our strengths to put an end to the ills afflicting our societies.

Link: The New Nation