Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla reveals move to Dilshod Akhatov, the Ambassador of the Republic of Uzbekistan, at the Parliament, reports Asian Lite News
The Indian Parliament is considering a proposal to form a Parliamentary Friendship Group with the friendly nations to strengthen bilateral relations.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla shared the information while meeting Dilshod Akhatov, the Ambassador of the Republic of Uzbekistan, at the Parliament.
During the meeting, Birla noted that the India Friendship Group has been formed in both the Houses of the Uzbek Parliament and informed that a proposal to form a Parliamentary Friendship Group for Uzbekistan is under consideration.
Welcoming Akhatov, Birla mentioned about the close relations between India and Uzbekistan, stating that the two countries share friendly relations, and are also strategic partners.
Increasing cooperation
Birla said that there has been a steady increase in cooperation between India and Uzbekistan in all areas, including politics, trade, culture, science, humanitarian, defense and education, over the years.
He further stated that the strategic partnership of the two countries has reached new heights after the visits to Uzbekistan in 2015 and 2016 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the visits to India in 2018 and 2019 by Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirzioev.
Birla emphasised on the interactions between democratic countries and sharing of best practices for furthering parliamentary diplomacy.
In this regard, Birla expressed his gratitude to the Chairman of Oli Majlis (Uzbek Parliament) for extending him an invitation to visit Uzbekistan.
Birla noted that the Parliaments of the two countries are working to strengthen bilateral relations.
On capacity building of parliaments, the Lok Sabha Speaker said that there is good cooperation between the two countries in the field of training and capacity building.
Birla also focused on issues like tourism, agriculture, health and renewable energy and said that these areas have immense potential to increase bilateral trade.
He mentioned that through the Chabahar port in Iran and being part of Uzbekistan’s INSTC (International North-South Transport Corridor), India and Uzbekistan and the whole of Central Asia will have better connectivity in the future.
On the military cooperation between the two countries, Birla said that the ongoing Indo-Uzbekistan joint military exercise ‘Dustalik-II’ in Uttarakhand is an important milestone in the growing cooperation between the two countries.
‘No parliament should discuss laws passed by other parliaments’
No parliament should discuss laws passed in other parliaments and issues that are internal to sovereign countries, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has said.
Birla made these remarks in the Central Hall of Parliament while hosting the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) president Duarte Pacheco. The event was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha Harivansh, Union ministers, Members of Parliament and members of the diplomatic community.
The Speaker’s remarks are significant as they come just days after lawmakers in Britain discussed the farmers’ protests in India in the British parliament.
Without naming any country, the Lok Sabha Speaker also asserted that India has a clear policy against terrorism and expansionism. Birla mentioned that India has played a leadership role of a responsible international partner during the Covid pandemic. India has supplied Covid related treatment materials to more than 150 countries and it has deployed rapid response teams in several countries to tackle the pandemic.
Addressing the gathering, Pacheco, a member of the Portuguese Parliament, said the coronavirus pandemic has shown that ‘multilateralism’ is the way forward and lauded India’s effort to provide vaccines across the world.
“This pandemic shows how small we are. Multilateralism is the solution to this and India is an example,” he said.
Pacheco described India as a special friend of the IPU that had played an important role in parliamentary diplomacy.
“Portugal supports India’s claim for permanent member of the Security Council,”the lawmaker said, pitching for a greater role for New Delhi in the global order. He further said that in him, India has a special friend in the IPU, who is ready to work side-by-side with India and its Parliament.