ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has called for global multi-dimensional legislative and political measures to address challenges of terrorism and extremism.

Both terrorism and extremism posed severe threat to global peace and prosperity but terrorism should not be associated with any religion, culture or society, he said.

He was addressing a meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) at Saint Petersburg in Russia on Thursday.

Mr Sadiq said terrorism and extremism were directly related to conflicts and disputes and called on the international community to pay urgent attention to address festering disputes and unresolved conflicts, aggression, foreign occupation and denial of the right to self-determination.

He said, “Religious, racial, ethnic discrimination and persecution and economic disparities create polarisation. Extremists use these situations to lure youth into supporting their agenda.”

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2015