ISLAMABAD -  A meeting of the Special Committee on Creation of Asian Parliament (SCCAP) and APA Standing Committee on Political Affairs (SCPA) would be held from March 13 to March 17 in Islamabad.

The event would formally be inaugurated by Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani and Speaker National Assembly Ayaz Sadiq on Tuesday, March 14.  More than 70 delegates from 23 different countries including member parliaments and speakers are expected to participate in the meeting.

During the event, a number of resolutions are expected to be adopted by the SCCAP and SCPA. Pakistan is likely to present major resolutions including the one related to the creation of the Asian parliament. Pakistan is the vice president of the APA and Chairperson Special Committee of Asian Parliament.

The Asian Parliamentary Assembly dates back to September 1999 when a group of Asian parliamentarians decided to join hands for the promotion of peace and human rights in Dhaka by establishing Association of Asian Parliaments for Peace (AAPP) which was later on converted into APA in 2004 after the passage of Islamabad declaration.

Since its inception, the Senate has played an active role to make the forum vibrant and has injected dynamism by putting forward innovation ideas for discussion aimed at regional integration and prosperity of the Asian region.

The Senate of Pakistan also held the presidency of the important regional forum for two consecutive years and successfully hosted two plenary sessions of the forum in 2013 and 2014 respectively.  

The proposal of creation of Asian Parliament was also floated by Senate of Pakistan in the 7th plenary which was held in Lahore which received a huge acknowledgement from the member countries and different countries across the Asian region endorsed the proposal.