Pakistan becomes CPA member again

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday was readmitted as a regular member of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) at its 50th conference in Toronto in Canada.

A heavy agenda has been laid out for the conference, which includes regional group meetings including that from Asia.

Senate Chairman Muhammadmian Soomro welcomed the restoration of Pakistan’s membership.

Talking to PTV by phone Chairman Soomro said, “It is welcome and will yield positive results. It will provide another platform to Pakistan’s parliamentarians to interact with other countries.”

He said a separate Asian Region to be headquartered in Pakistan had been formed consisting of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Mauritius to coordinate on the CPA matters.

The weeklong CPA conference opened in Quebec earlier and it also met in Ottawa on September 5. The remaining sessions of the conference started on Tuesday in Toronto and will continue till tomorrow (Thursday).

Pakistan is also represented at the conference by National Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain, the four provincial assembly speakers and Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Canada Shahid Malik besides senators and members of the National Assembly. app

Home | National