BEIJING, April 17: Pakistan and 39 other Asian countries in a meeting of the Association of Asian Parliaments for Peace on Tuesday pledged to work for strengthening parliamentary democracy and paving the way for peace and economic progress.

The meeting was inaugurated by China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee Chairman Li Peng.

Pakistan’s ambassador to China, Riaz Hussain Khokhar, told APP that Pakistan would fully endorse the draft declaration of the AAPP, which calls for taking all possible steps for consolidating democracy and promoting peace, stability and economic progress.

He said Pakistan strongly believed that economic progress could not be achieved without resolving regional conflicts and establishing peace.

The theme of the meeting is “peace and development” and the participants will discuss multi-polarization and peace, globalization and developing countries and international cooperation for promoting a new world political order.

The draft declaration drawn up by China covers the general view of the international and Asian situations, the importance and features of Asia on the international stage, the role of parliament in promoting international and regional peace and development, globalization and common development, and security and human rights.

The participating countries include, Japan, Russia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Singapore, Oman, Kuwait and the Central Asian states. India did not attend the meeting.—APP