Asia's Future Lies In Hands Of Its People: APA

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th july, 2016) : The future of Asia lies in the hands of Asian people. This was the crux of speeches of the delegates delivered at the second session of the meeting of Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA) Standing Committee on Economic and Sustainable Development Affairs here on Tuesday. Addressing the meeting, member of Sri Lankan parliament Mylvaganam Thilakarajah said financial sustainability was directly related to peace of any country. She said the Tamil United Liberation Front, which was formed in 1976, demanded a separate Tamil state.

Then in 1977, Sri Lanka was rocked by ethnic riots in which 128 people died. From the mid-1990s, she said efforts were made to end the fighting. A ceasefire was made in February 2002 and then talks were held.

However, the ceasefire broke down and fighting resumed, which ended in 2009 with the defeat of the Tamil Tigers by the Sri Lankan government. Now the country was on the path of progress, she added. Indonesian parliamentarian Tjatur Sapto Edy said,"For the progress of any country strong belief and future vision is required. Honest leaders are very important to bring change in the country." He said Indonesians remained poor and in 1997 the country was hit by a financial crisis, due to which its economy contracted.

Indonesia was hit by riots and (the then president) Suharto resigned in May 1998. Democracy returned to the country with elections, which were held in 1999. At the beginning of the 21st century, he said, the Indonesian economy began to recover and was today growing steadily.

"Only positive intensions of a leader can bring change and stability in the country," he observed. Head of Turkish delegates Hmood Alhamdan said,"Strong democracy means future of that country is in hands of the citizens." Conspiracies, he could, can never bring revolution in any country.

Muslim countries were destructed by foreign conspiracies, but the Turkish people had sacrificed their lives to save democracy. All Muslim countries should learn from the Turkish people, who give first priority to democracy, he remarked.

He said,"Western media have double standards. West is using media for its vested interests. We all should have to make our media houses strong." Hmood Alhamdan said on July 15, a coup was attempted in Turkey against the government, which ultimately failed.

The attempt was made by a faction within the Turkish Armed Forces that was organized under a council called the Peace at Home Council.

The council attempted to seize control of several key places in Ankara, Istanbul, and elsewhere, but failed to do so after forces loyal to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the cabinet of Binali Yildirim defeated them. Afghan parliamentarian Hasibullah Kalemzai said a secure and peaceful Afghanistan with all institutions fully functioning would be a source of strength for all of Asia in general and South and Central Asia in particular.

Peace in Afghanistan, he said, would lead to peace, safety, and tranquility across the Asian continent while persistent instability in the country would keep the continent in perpetual turmoil. Given the advantage of its strategic location, Afghanistan functions as a land bridge in the "Heart of Asia," connecting South Asia, Central Asia, Eurasia, and the middle East.

Peace and security in Afghanistan will be vital for broader economic cooperation. For the Central Asian states, transit through Afghanistan is critically important and is considered as a vital lifeline, linking these landlocked economies to global markets. People in Afghanistan are desirous to unarm themselves but the situation and circumstances in their country is not favorable.

In Afghanistan people of different countries are posted to deliver their duties in different domains and need of the hour is that they should maximally contribute to change the fate of the country. Head of delegates from Jordan Tayseer Asmadi said Jordan had separated in different groups to destroy the countries.

During the first Arab-Israeli war, Jordan received a large influx of refugees and later annexed the West Bank of the Jordan River - a part of pre- 1948 Palestine. Within two years, Jordan's population increased from 500,000 to 1.5 million, one-third of them refugees. Today Jordan faces economic challenges such as poverty and unemployment however Jordan has great potential for tourism, he said. Senator Sherry Rehman said that in the near future it will be impossible for disintegrated countries to meet the challenges of contemporary world.

The countries that not integrated will not be able to save themselves from the onslaught of climate degradation. Parliamentarians from Thailand, Lebanon, Kuwait, Cambodia, Russia, Maldives , Bahrain, Bhutan, Iran, DPR Korea, Vietnam, Palestine, Kyrgyz, China, APA Sc=ecretariat and Sindh Assembly also spoke in the session.