ISLAMABAD: The First Executive Council Meeting of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA) unanimously proposed Pakistan to Chair the APA Standing Committee on Political Affairs in 2017. The decision would be taken during the 9th APA Plenary scheduled in December this year at Siam Reap, Cambodia. Pakistan parliamentary delegation led by Senator Nuzhat Sadiq attended the APA Executive Council Meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia from September 26-27, 2016, said a message received here. The delegation, comprised of Senator Barrister Muhammad Ali Khan Saif, Senator Javed Abbasi and Justice (r) Iftikhar Cheema from the National Assembly, exercised active parliamentary diplomacy during the event and convinced the 42-Member APA forum to include, in the APA Resolution titled, `Recent developments in Asia’ to resolve Kashmir issue as per aspirations of Kashmiri people and in accordance with the UNSC Resolutions. The APA meeting in Phnom Penh also deliberated on and accepted the proposal of former APA President Mian Raza Rabbani for creation of 7 sub-regional geo-political groups within the APA to develop a roadmap for creation of an Asian Parliament.