National Assembly Speaker, Asad Qaiser, on Sunday, underscored the need for unity among the Asian nations so that the 21st century becomes the “Asian Century.”
He said this while presiding over a meeting of the 35-member Asia-Pacific Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union held in Doha.
It is a matter of immense pride that Pakistan was chosen for the first time as the chair for the important Geopolitical Group of Asia Pacific.
Speaker Qaiser also stressed upon the need to adopt a unified approach by Asian countries to tackle their issues.
Condolences were also offered to the people and the parliament of New Zealand over the acts of terrorism committed at the Christchurch mosque on March 15, this year.
He emphasised on invoking the dictums of parliamentary diplomacy. The speaker urged to ensure regular and frequent contact between the Asian legislators in order to develop a better understanding of the issues of terrorism, poverty, xenophobia and a clash of civilisations.
The lack of contact had badly hampered the harmonious development across continents, especially in the Asian continent. The speaker offered Pakistan’s absolute support to any such effort.
The meeting of this group deliberated at great length the crucial five emergency items; focusing on the critical issues of xenophobia, Islamophobia, protection for Muslim minorities over the world, the plight of the Palestinians and the humanitarian crisis in the wake of the cyclone that had hit African countries of Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe.