Pakistan's absence at a speakers summit here raised several eyebrows with Inter-Parliamentary Union taking on the neighbouring nation, saying differences between governments should not stop dialogue among lawmakers.
"You can just roll up your sleeves and take your jacket and you talk. I think people's representatives are much more open in discussing issues," IPU President Saber Hossain Chowdhury said on the sidelines of South Asian Speakers summit.
"When governments stop talking parliamentarians should continue and at least at the parliamentary level this is what IPU stands for which is dialogue. You may have differences then talk about your differences," he said.
He said parliamentarians from different countries can have informal discussions on various issues and "protocol can go out of the window".
Pakistan has skipped the summit being attended by speakers of six South Asian nations.
"Although, Pakistan in not here on this occasion but we are hopeful that it will participate in upcoming events of this very warm platform in the near future," Chowdhury, who is an MP from Bangladesh, said.
Pakistan's absence also irked neighbouring Afghanistan, with its representatives wondering the reasons behind it.
"Pakistan is not here; the reasons are best known to them. As a neighbouring nation we would have felt better if they were here," Speaker of Afghanistan Assembly Abdul Raouf Ibrahimi said.
He said like India, cross-border terrorism is very serious threat for Afghanistan.
In his inaugural speech, the IPU President had expressed disappointment over the absence of Pakistan and said it is not unusual for governments to have differences but it is believed at the IPU that political dialogue is absolutely critical.
Pitching for further enhancing the cooperation between parliamentarians of different countries, he proposed an idea of establishing joint parliamentarians groups from different South Asian countries, including Pakistan.
The two-day summit is being jointly organised by Indian Parliament and IPU on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Chowdhury said nowhere else in the world do speakers come together to discuss SDGs. The discussions on these goals can be left for the government but as parliamentarians we want to do value addition in future of the people, he said.
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