A 20-member multi-party Parliamentary delegation of Pakistan is leaving for India today to participate in the second round of Pakistan-India Parliamentarians’ Dialogue facilitated by PILDAT.
The two-day Dialogue will be held on August 18-19, 2011 in New Delhi
where Parliamentarians of both sides will inter act with each other.
Parliamentarians intend to carry forward the discourse on the issues
highlighted in the 1st round of Pak India Parliamentarians Dialogue
held in Islamabad on January 06-07 early this year including
strengthening people to people contact, a liberal visa regime;
terrorism; Jammu and Kashmir; water; role of Media; removing the trust
deficit and other issues like role of women, trade, role of Military
and Intelligence Agencies and continuation of Dialogue and exchange
programmes.
Senator Jan. Mohammad Khan Jamali, Deputy Chairman Senate of
Pakistan, and Mr. Faisal Karim Kundi, MNA, Deputy Speaker National
Assembly of Pakistan, will co-lead the Pakistan delegation while
seasoned MPs from Pakistan and India, Senator S. M. Zafar (Punjab,
PML), former Federal Minister for Law, Pakistan and Mr. Yashwant Sinha,
former Union Minister for External Affairs and Finance, India
(Jharkhand, BJP) will be co-chairs of the Pakistan-India
Parliamentarians Dialogue – II.
A senior Parliamentary delegation nominated by the Honourable
Speaker National Assembly of Pakistan Honourable Dr. Fehmida Mirza as
well as leaders from major political parties of Pakistan will interact
with a multi-party Indian Parliamentary delegation in New Delhi on
issues that impact the relations of both countries. The initiative
spearheaded by Parliamentarians from both countries is to engage with
each other to strengthen people-to-people contact for peace and
stability in the region and explore additional avenues of parliamentary
diplomacy in the quest for peaceful and friendly relations between the
two neighbours.
The Pakistan delegation comprises 6 Senators and 14 MNAs from 6
political parties in addition to independent members. Besides the
Deputy Presiding Officers of the two houses of Parliament, the other
members of Pakistani delegation include Senator Afrasiab Khattak
(Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, ANP), Senator Jehangir Bader (Punjab, PPPP),
Senator Humayun Khan Mandokhel (Balochistan, Independent), Senator
Saeeda Iqbal (ICT, PPPP) and Senator S.M. Zafar. Members from the
National Assembly of Pakistan include Ms. Anusha Rehman, (Punjab,
PML-N), Dr. Ayatullah Durrani, (Balochistan, PPPP),,Mr. Haider Abbas
Rizvi, (Sindh, MQM) ,Mr. Humayun Saifullah Khan, (KP, PML), Mr. Laiq
Muhammad Khan, (KP JUI-F), Mr. Khurram Dastgir Khan, (Punjab, PML-N),
Mr. Nadeem Afzal Gondal, (Punjab, PPPP), Dr. Nafisa Shah, (Sindh,
PPPP), Nawabzada Malik Amad Khan, (Punjab, PPPP), Mr. Qamar Zaman
Kaira,(Punjab, PPPP), Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari, (Punjab, PML),
Mr. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, (Punjab, PML-N) and Mr Lal Chand, (Sindh,
PPP). Mr. Iftikhar Ullah Babar, Special Secretary, Senate of Pakistan
and Mr. Moosa Raza Effendi, Additional Secretary, National Assembly of
Pakistan will participate as observers in the Dialogue representing the
Parliamentary Secretariats.
49 members of Indian Parliament from 14 parties in addition to
independent members have so far confirmed to participate in the
dialogue. The Indian Parliamentary delegation invited to join the
Dialogue includes Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyar, (Indian National
Congress-INC); Dr. Bhalchandra Mungekar (INC); Ms. Brinda Karat,
(Communist Party of India (Marxist), West Bengal); Dr. Chandan Mitra
(BJP, Madhya Pradesh); Dr. E. M. Sudarsana Natchiappan, (INC, Tamil
Nadu); Mr. H.K. Dua; Mr. Javed Akhtar; Mr. Mohammad Adeeb,
(Independent, Uttar Pradesh); Mr. N. K. Singh (Janta Dal (United),
Bihar); Mr. Naresh Chandra Agrawal, (Bahujan Samaj Party, Uttar
Pradesh), Mr. Naresh Gujral, (Shiromani Akali Dal, Punjab), Ms. Naznin
Faruque, (INC, Assam); Mr. Raashid Alvi, (INC, Andhra Pradesh); Mr.
Rajniti Prasad, (Rashtriya Janata Dal, Bihar); Mr. Rajeev
Chandrasekhar, (Independent, Karnataka); Prof. Saif-ud-Din Soz, (INC,
Jammu & Kashmir); Mr. Sitaram Yechury, (Communist Party of India
(Marxist), West Bengal); Mr. Tiruchi Siva, (Dravida Munnetra Kazagham,
Tamil Nadu); Mr. Vijay Jawaharlal Darda, (INC, Maharashtra); Mr.
Yashwant Sinha, (BJP, Jharkhand); Mr. Akhilesh Yadav, (Samajwadi
Party(SP), Uttar Pradesh); Mr. Ananth Kumar, (BJP, South, Karnataka);
Ms. Annu Tandon, (INC, Annao, Uttar Pradesh); Mr. Anurag Singh Thakur,
(BJP, Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh); Mr. Asaduddin Owaisi, (All India
Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen, Hyderabad, Andhrapradesh); Mr. Baijayant
Jay Panda, (Biju Janata Dal, Kendrapara, Orissa); Mr. Chongshen
Mongkosungkum Chang, (Nagaland Peoples Front, Nagaland); Mr. Deepender
Singh Hooda, (INC, Rohtak, Haryana); Mr. Hamdullah Sayeed, (INC,
Lakshadweep, ST, Lakshadweep); Ms. Harsimrat Kaur Badal, (Shiromani
Akali Dal(SAD), Bathinda,Punjab); Mr. Jaswant Singh, (BJP, Darjeeling,
West Bengal); Mr. Jayant Chaudhary, (Rashtriya Lok Dal(RLD), Mathura,
Uttar Pradesh); Dr. Jyoti Mirdha, (INC, Nagaur, Rajasthan); Mr.
Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo, (Biju Janata Dal(BJD), Bolangir, Orissa);
Mr. Kirti Azad, (BJP, Darbhanga, Bihar); Mr. Madhu Goud Yaskhi, (INC,
Nizamabad, Andhra Pradesh); Mr. Manish Tewari, INC, Ludhiana, Punjab);
Mr Naveen Jindal, (INC, Kurukshetra, Haryana); Mr. Neeraj Shekhar,
(Samajwadi Party(SP), Ballia,Uttar Pradesh); Mr. Pinaki Misra, (Biju
Janata Dal-BJD, Puri, Orissa); Mr. Pradeep Majhi, (INC,
Nabarangpur,ST,Orissa); Mr. Sandeep Dikshit, (INC, East Delhi, Delhi);
Dr. Shashi Tharoor, (INC, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala); Mr. Shatrughan
Sinha, (BJP, Patna Sahib, Bihar); Ms. Supriya Sadanand Sule,
(Nationalist Congress Party, Baramati, Maharashtra); Syed Shahnawaz
Hussain, (BJP, Bhagalpur, Bihar); Mr. Uday Singh, (BJP, Purnia, Bihar);
Mr. Vijay Bahuguna, (INC, Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand) and Ms.
Yashodhara Raje Scindia, (BJP, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh).
PILDAT undertook the initiative of the Parliamentarians Dialogues to
enhance the role of Parliamentary Diplomacy in Pakistan’s relations in
the region and around the World. Given regional relations, it is
imperative, therefore, that Parliamentarians from the region engage in
Parliamentary diplomacy that can be used to increase mutual
understanding between countries, to improve scrutiny of government, to
represent their people better, and to increase the democratic
legitimacy of inter-governmental institutions.
Parliamentarians from India and Pakistan can play a key role in
facilitating the dialogue process and conflict resolution on mutually
acceptable and advantageous considerations. They have a clout with
official circles, local influentials and their constituents which they
can use to urge their respective Governments and political parties to
work towards building normal and peaceful relations and engaging in
regular dialogue for addressing SANA
