ISLAMABAD: Arab Parliament speaker Adel Abdulrahman Al-Asoumi on Monday invited Pakistan Senate Chairman Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani to attend and address the body’s next session in Cairo, the first time a non-Arab parliamentary leader has been invited to address the legislature.
The Arab Parliament is a legislative body of the Arab League, a 22-member organization of Arab countries established in 1945.
A delegation, led by the Arab Parliament speaker, began its first five-day visit to Islamabad on Sunday on the invitation of Sanjrani “to develop and strengthen parliamentary relations” with Pakistan.
“I consider this [invitation] an honor to be a great blessing for me. I will soon visit the Arab Parliament with a parliamentary delegation,” Sanjarani said while accepting the invitation.
Arab Parliament delegates on Monday also held separate meetings with the Pakistani president, Senate chairman and foreign minister, discussing bilateral cooperation, institutional ties and parliamentary diplomacy among other issues of mutual interest.
“Pakistan attaches special importance to its relations with Arab countries,” President Dr. Arif Alvi said in a meeting with the delegates, adding that the Pakistani people had a natural attachment to the people of Arab countries because of “common faith and culture.”
Alvi reiterated that Islamic countries should work together to change the world’s perceptions of Islamophobia.
“Challenges of terrorism and Islamophobia can be overcome through close cooperation,” he added.
Al-Asoumi informed the president that Pakistan was an “important country” for the Arab world, adding: “Economic development and social prosperity is our common commitment, and we will move forward with it.”
He said such exchanges of delegations were needed to further strengthen relations between Pakistan and the Arab world.
In his meeting with the visiting delegation, the Senate chairman said Pakistan was ready to join the Arab Parliament as an observer “because it is very important to us as it is a common platform of the Arab countries.”

The Pakistan Senate and Arab Parliament also signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation between the two institutions through bilateral exchanges and training of parliamentarians.

In a meeting with the visiting delegation, Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Pakistan wanted peace and stability in the Middle East.
“As a founding member of the OIC, we are committed to playing a positive role in the unity of the Muslim world,” Qureshi said, adding that Pakistan considered a just solution to the Palestinian issue essential for peace in the Middle East.