SAARC parliamentarians meet in Shimla next month

Shimla, May 30: Over 80 parliamentarians from different SAARC countries will meet here on June 2-3 to deliberate on steps for fostering continuous contacts among themselves, either through a forum or any other self-sustaining mechanism, as part of the vision of a ''South Asia Parliament.''

The two-day conference, organised by the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA), will be inaugurated by Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, will deliver the keynote address and former External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha, the closing speech.

Leading members of parliament apart from journalists from the region will take part in the meet, the second of its type, after the one in Murree, Pakistan in 2005, a SAFMA release said.

The theme, like the previous meet, will be ''Towards South Asian Unity'', it said, adding that the meet will also commemorate the 150th anniversary of First War of Independence.

Shimla has been chosen as the venue because of its association with the parleys on the transfer of power with the British rulers in the 1940s.

A total of 87 parliamentarians have accepted the invitation with the maximum from India (24), followed by Pakistan (23).

There will be 12 members from the dissolved parliament of Bangladesh, eight from Nepal, six from Sri Lanka, two from Bhutan, four from the Maldives and eight from new entrant Afghanistan. The delegations of two countries include their Speakers (Sri Lanka's W J Lokubandara) and Subhash Chandra Nemwang of Nepal.

Prominent participants include Leader of Opposition in the Pakistan National Assembly Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman, PPP's Sher Bano Sherry Rehman, PML-N's Tehmina Daultana, MQM's Farooq Sattar, and PML's Inayutullah and Sheikh Waqqar Akram (Pakistan), former ministers M Samsul Islam, Dr Osman Faruque and Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan (Bangladesh), CPN-UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal and former foreign minister Chakra Prasad Bastola (Nepal).

The Indian contingent comprises Ganesh Prasad Singh and Sitaram Yadav (RJD), Paramjit Kaur Gulshan and Naresh Gujral (Akali Dal), Laxman Singh, Harin Pathak, Syed Shahanawaz Hussain (BJP), Ajoy Chakraborty (CPI), Subrata Bose (FB), Tariq Anwar (NCP), Dinesh Trivedi (Trinamool Congress), Digvijay Singh (JD-U), Yerrannaidu (TDP), Sudhangshu Seal and Samik Lahiri CPI(M), Brajesh Pathak (BSP), Keshava Rao, Col Dhani Ram Shandil, Madhu Goud Yaskhi, Ram Prakash and Anwar Hussain (Congress).

UNI