ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly (NA) on Thursday announced with regret its decision to pull back as the host of the 61st Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) as the “Indian demand to invite the speaker of the Occupied Jammu and Kashmir Assembly cannot be accepted”.
National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq on Thursday told a press conference inviting Jammu and Kashmir to the CPA Conference was a violation of the UN Security Council resolutions and international laws.
He said Pakistan will raise the issue of Kashmir at every forum of the Commonwealth. Pakistan will not move an inch from its stance on the Kashmir dispute. He said India was trying to tarnish the image of Pakistan in the world through false propaganda. Pakistan will raise the Kashmir issue at the upcoming Speakers Conference in New York on August 30 in which 188 delegates are participating.
Bangladeshi speaker and Commonwealth Secretariat have requested Pakistan to review its decision of CPU Conference cancellation but Pakistan will not take its decision back, the speaker added.He said Pakistan’s principled position on Jammu and Kashmir will be compromised if the speaker of held Kashmir was invited to the conference.It may be recalled that Sadiq was unanimously elected as the President of the CPA in October 2014 on the occasion of the 60th CPC, said a press release issued by the NA.
It said that it was also decided there that the next conference of the 53-member nations’ 178 parliaments would be held in Islamabad, from September 30 to October 8, 2015.On its part, Pakistan had agreed to host the conference when Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq was personally approached by the late Secretary General of the CPA Dr William F Shija.
He had informed the speaker of the Association’s difficulties in finding hosts for the annual conferences and had pleaded Pakistan’s parliament to take up the responsibility. As an emerging democracy, Pakistan’s NA had agreed to accept the request with a view to strengthening democracy, dialogue and cooperation among the developing countries of the Commonwealth.
However, at no point had the elected Parliament of Pakistan shown even a distant sign of flexibility on its principled and historic stand on Jammu and Kashmir. The unsettled dispute remains the flashpoint for regional peace and stability and is very much alive on the United Nations’ agenda, it said.
There are outstanding UN Security Council’s resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir, which call for the Kashmiris’ right to self-determination through a free and impartial plebiscite under the UN auspices. The relevant UNSC resolutions rule out any alternative to plebiscite in Jammu & Kashmir as a possible disposition of this issue.
In addition, the Parliament of Pakistan, especially the NA, has also passed numerous unanimous resolutions, calling for the right of self-determination for the people of Jammu & Kashmir.
It was in the light of this that the President of the CPA, Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, decided not to extend an invitation to the Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir Assembly to attend the 61st CPC.
This decision reflects the firm and unwavering resolve of Pakistan to remain committed to the Kashmirs’ right of self-determination in accordance with the resolutions of the UN Security Council at all costs, even if it means sacrificing the opportunity of hosting the CPC.
Nevertheless, the Parliament of Pakistan whole-heartedly thanks the 115 branches of the total 178 parliaments of the 53 CPA countries, including the 415 delegates and observers, who had already registered and confirmed their participation in the conference.
The Parliament of Pakistan hopes to host the friends and well-wishers of democracy and people’s right of self-determination as and when conducive environment prevails. It also thanks all regions for understanding Pakistan’s principled stand, it said.
Although, the Parliament of Pakistan could not host the 61CPC, however, this occasion has enabled Pakistan to once again highlight the Kashmir dispute as the unfinished agenda of the 1947 partition and remind the world community, especially the 52 countries of the Commonwealth, the plight of the Kashmiri people with a dire need for an amicable solution as per the aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
