Participating in the Second South Asian Parliament conference, organised by South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) here Saturday, the parliamentarians also showed goodwill, farsightedness, flexibility and adjustment.
The conference, coinciding with the 150th anniversary of the historic Great War of Independence in 1857, also laid the 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 was decided several times on negotiation table.
This is the second meeting of its type-the first was held nearly two years ago at Bhurban of Pakistan. The theme of this year's conference is "Towards South Asian Unity".
During the conference, the parliamentarians, keeping in mind that the 21st century belongs to Asia, deliberated on the core issues, which relate economic cooperation, mobility and connectivity and security in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) region.
Presided over by President of the SAFMA KK Katyal, the conference was also addressed, among others, by Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Virbhadra Singh, Speaker of Sri Lankan Parliament WJ M Lokubandara, former education minister of Bangladesh M Osman Farruk, Pakistan opposition leader Fazal-ur-Rehman, 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 to the caretaker government of Bangladesh 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 the region.
In his speech, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chattarjee said even though many social and economic ills are plaguing this region, the people are the real resources and leverage of our strengths to put an end to the ills afflicting our societies.
He said the representatives of the people will have to work hard and increase interaction among themselves and understand each others perspective and join hands to provide an enabling condition to our peoples so that they will be able to contribute to the peace process and also enjoy the benefits of peace and development.
"The twenty-first century belongs to Asia and it will be an Asian century. It falls upon the people, governments, parliamentarians, the media and the civil society bodies of South Asia to help shape the Asian century", Chattarjee added.
He said that the fraternity of the parliamentarians and the media of SSARC countries, through mutual cooperation and consultation, could enormously help the cause of peace and prosperity in the region.
The Lok Sabha Speaker expressed the hope that the conference would impart a new direction and momentum to the peace process and further strengthen the people to people contacts in this part of the world.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh called for making SAARC an effective instrument for regional cooperation and mutual understanding for leading to greater prosperity of all the member countries of the region.
Former Bangladesh education minister Osman Farruk also underlined the need for increasing regional cooperation for strengthening democracy and lasting peace in the region. He also gave a brief resume of Bangladesh's development in social and economic fields.
The second South Asian Parliament conference was seen as much more representative in character by virtue of representation from all eight member countries of SAARC-Afganistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
More than 80 lawmakers, besides more than 50 leading journalists from the region, are attending the conference.
Bangladesh delegation included former education minister M Osman Farruk, former state minister for foreign affairs Abul Hasan Chowdhury, former lawmakers Ziaur Rahman Khan, Musharraf Hossain, Abdus Shahid, Faruque Khan, GM Quader and Principal Ruhul Quddus and President of the SAFMA, Bangladesh Reazuddin Ahmed and General Secretary Zahiduzzaman Faruk.
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