All arrangements have been finalised for sixth Conference of the Association of Saarc Speakers and Parliamentarians (CASSP) starting here from Sunday (today). The Speakers and Parliamentarians of the Saarc Region will participate in the three-day conference (November 04- November 06) to discuss host of issues pertaining to regional co-operation, promotion of democratic values and good governance.
The conference being inaugurated by President Asif Ali Zardari at a ceremony scheduled for November 04 at Aiwan-e-Sadr, will also focus on meaningful participatory democracy in South Asia, food security for the region and ensuring Parliament's role in accomplishing MDGs. The delegates from India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Afghanistan and Bhutan are expected to participate in the conference.
CASSP is a forum for exchange of ideas and information on Parliamentary practices and procedures. Its main objectives are to strengthen people-to-people contacts with a view to achieving mutual understanding, trust and friendship among the populace of the SAARC countries and promote contacts and co-ordinate and exchange experiences among Parliaments and Parliamentarians of the SAARC countries.
It also intends to support the work of SAARC and promote knowledge of its principles and activities among Parliamentarians of South Asia, besides co-operating in international forums in matters of common interest. Pakistan is the founding member of the Association. First Conference of SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians was held at New Delhi in 1995, Second CASSP was held at Islamabad in 1997, third in Dhaka in 1999, fourth in Colombo in 2006 and the fifth CASSP was held at New Delhi in 2011.
The sixth conference which is hosted by Speaker National Assembly of Pakistan, Dr Fehmida Mirza has an important feature in terms of both deliberating on important agenda relating to Millennium Development Goals and the need for developing participatory democracy to reap its fruitful benefits. The conference is also aimed at creating a conducive atmosphere between the countries of SAARC region through inviting the Lok Sabha Speaker who recently visited Pakistan on her invitation and gave new impetus to the relationship between the two countries.
Speaker National Assembly, Dr Fehmida Mirza also led a Parliamentary delegation to New Delhi to attend the fifth conference in July 2011. The presence of our Speaker in the neighbouring country benefited the SAARC region as a whole while there were meaningful interactions among the SAARC Speakers. The event pushed forward the composite dialogue between the two countries that ultimately contributed towards promoting better understanding between Pakistan and India and in a broader perspective the interaction covered the entire region.
Hence, the Association provides people-to-people contact and Parliament-to-Parliament interface that can help in melting ice in stalled relationship between neighbours as well as strengthening ties in the region by activating the Association wherein Fehmida Mirza played a pivotal role in sustaining continuity of Parliamentary co-ordination between the countries of the region.
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