Lok Sabha Speaker lauds vibrancy of Parliamentary democracy

New Delhi, Jul 9 (UNI) Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee today lauded the concept of a regional Parliament and offered all possible support and cooperation to the East African Legislative Assembly.

Mr Chatterjee was interacting with a delegation of the East African Legislative Assembly, led by its Speaker, Abdirahin Haithar Abdi, currently on a study visit to the Bureau of Parliamentary Studies and Training (BPST) of the Lok Sabha Secretariat.

During discussions Mr Chatterjee referred to some of the major initiatives taken by him such as the Lok Sabha Television Channel, Parliamentary fora and Parliamentary friendship groups and emphasised the need for closer interaction between the Parliaments of the two countries.

Mr Abdi, describing India as the world's largest democracy, said there should be more exchanges among Parliaments to consolidate democracy across the world.

Earlier in the day, while interacting with Turkey ambassador Levent Bilman who had called on him, Mr Chatterjee described the relations between the two countries as healthy and warm and emphasised the need to further strengthen them.

UNI/BKS AM RN1739