Pakistan, South Africa move to deepen parliamentary ties

South Africa and Pakistan have agreed to widen bilateral ties, with parliamentary cooperation placed at the centre, Mettis Global reported. The understanding came out of talks in Cape Town on the margins of the 69th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference, where National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq met his South African counterpart, Angela Thokozile Didiza. Both sides pledged to strengthen exchanges on legislation, institutional development and contacts between people.

Sadiq outlined how Pakistan's parliament functions and said the two countries had been slow to build ties. He brought up the 1992 and 1999 trips Nelson Mandela made to Pakistan, then proposed wider collaboration on committees, modernising parliamentary business and sharing institutional experience. Sadiq also flagged climate risk, noting that Pakistan generates 0.6% of worldwide carbon output yet ranks among the states hardest hit by climate calamities. South Africa's Deputy Speaker praised Pakistan's peace efforts concerning the Gulf and shared AI initiatives for parliamentary work.

Sadiq invited Didiza to visit Pakistan and highlighted the Green Parliament initiative among other parliamentary efforts, which she praised. Didiza also called for closer cooperation in trade, tourism and people-to-people contacts, and invited Sadiq to visit South Africa. She further said she was keen on a formal accord with the National Assembly and promised an early trip to Pakistan by a South African parliamentary team.