ISLAMABAD, Jan 26 (APP):Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq Friday said Pakistan and Indonesia cherish deep bonds of history, religion and culture, and the Indonesian brothers, sisters never left Pakistan alone in its hours of crisis.
He said this during his welcome address in the joint session of Parliament.
The speaker said the visit of Indonesian President Joko Widodo and his address to this parliament was of immense historic importance.
He said Dr Ahmed Sukarno, the first President of Indonesia, also addressed the National Assembly of Pakistan on June 26, 1963.
“And now — after fifty-five years — this House cherishes the presence in its midst, the democratically elected president of the largest Muslim population country in the world. As the representative of the free will of its 200 million people, this parliament is, therefore, proud of your presence,” the speaker said.
These fraternal relations, he said, even precede the birth of the two countries as we stood by each other during our respective freedom struggles.
“ On August 17, 1945, when the Founding Father of Indonesia, Dr. Ahmed Sukarno declared his nation’s freedom from the Dutch, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the then president of the All India Muslim League, called upon the Muslim troops of the British Colonial Army, stationed in the Far East to join hands with their Indonesian brethren against the Dutch colonial aggression”, the speaker added.
He said it remained a glowing chapter of the two countries’ history that some 600 Muslim troops from the Indo-Pak Sub-Continent joined the Indonesian freedom war. Of them, 500 embraced martyrdom. These fine 600 men were the joint heroes of the two nations and we jointly salute them.
The speaker said Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s personal attachment to the Indonesian freedom struggle was further manifested from the fact that he ordered to detain the Dutch planes on Karachi Airport, which were carrying supplies for their Army in Jakarta.
Pakistan is proud of the fact that when in 1995, Indonesia celebrated the golden jubilee of its independence; it never forgot its Pakistani comrades and decorated Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah with the highest Civil Award of “ADI-PURA”.
On their part, the speaker Ayaz Sadiq said the Indonesian brothers and sisters had also never left Pakistan alone in its hours of crisis. “They stood shoulder to shoulder with us during the Indo-Pak War of 1965 and did not hesitate for a minute in handing over whatever military resources Indonesia had at that critical time”.
It goes without saying that the 1948, 1965, 1971 and the later conflicts in South Asia had their genesis in the seven-decade old Kashmir dispute, he maintained.
Ayaz Sadiq said an everlasting peace in South Asia required a just and peaceful solution of this unresolved issue in accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people and in light of the United Nations Security Council Resolutions.
“Pakistan hopes that friends like Indonesia will continue helping Pakistan in this regard”, he added.
The historical association of the two nations, he said, had diversified over the period of time and had helped the two governments to build a strong network of cooperation on all fronts.
“ As members of the United Nations, the OIC, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Parliamentary Union of OIC Member States and other international and regional forums, we have been supporting each other on all issues of common concern and interest,” he added.
The parliaments of the two countries, the speaker said, had also been constantly engaged in a mutually beneficial cooperation. “ I am pleased to report that the Pak-Indonesian Friendship Groups have been constituted in both Houses of our parliament, which represent all political shades present in this House,” he added.
The speaker said the recent years had seen enhanced people-to-people contacts between the two countries which had opened new avenues of cooperation in higher education, cultural exchanges, bilateral trade and investment opportunities on both sides.
However, he said there was still potential of expansion in these imperative fields for our common good. While the executive leaderships of both countries were pursuing this path, we must also use the dictums of Parliamentary Diplomacy to expand the scope of our friendship.
Parliaments of the two countries could play a meaningful role by jointly working to achieve ever-growing and sustainable partnership, he added.
He said parliament was a true reflection of the hopes and aspirations of our people. Through its
debates and legislation, it had endeavoured to provide workable solutions to the problems of present-day Pakistan, he added.
In this regard, the speaker said our daunting challenge had been our fight against global terrorism, in which Pakistan has paid the heaviest price by rendering over 65,000 lies and bearing a loss of over $ 120 billion to its economy.
“In fact, our two nations, the two largest Muslim countries, are threatened by this same menace — be it the 2002 Bali bombings or the 2009 and 2016 Jakarta attacks or the gruesome 2016’s Army Public School attack in Peshawar. Terrorism and extremism are our common enemies,” he added.
