December 11; The 6th Round of India-Pakistan Parliamentary Dialogue began today at the Parliament House in New Delhi, India.

Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyar (INC), Member Rajya Sabha and Mr. Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari, MNA and Chairman Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs as well as Convener of Pakistan-India Parliamentary Friendship Group in the National Assembly of Pakistan opened the 2-day Dialogue as Co-Chairs.

A 12-member delegation of Pakistan MPs join their Indian counterparts under the leadership of Mr. Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari, MNA and Chairman Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs as well as Convener of Pakistan-India Parliamentary Friendship Group in the National Assembly of Pakistan, including Senator Hasil Khan Bizenjo, President, National Party, Senator Dr. Muhammad Jehangir Bader, Chairperson, Senate Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs; Senator Mushahid Ullah Khan, Secretary Information PML-N, Chairperson, Senate Standing Committee on Industries and Production, Senator Nawabzada Saifullah Magsi, Member Senate Standing Committees on Cabinet Secretariat; Water and Power; Law and Justice; Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. Abdul Rashid Godil, MNA, Member, National Assembly Standing Committees on Finance, Revenue, Economic Affairs and Privatization; Water and Power, Ms. Maiza Hameed, MNA, Member, National Assembly Standing Committee on Communications, Mr. Muhammad Afzal Khan, MNA, Parliamentary Secretary for Finance, Revenue, Economic Affairs, Statistics & Privatization, Mr. Muhammad Ayaz Soomro, MNA, Member, National Assembly Standing Committees on Law, Justice and Human Rights; Textile Industry, Mr. Muhammad Tallal Badar, MNA, Parliamentary Secretary for Science and Technology, Mr. Ramesh Lal, MNA, Member, National Assembly Standing Committee on Communication, Railway, Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony and Syed Muhammad Ashiq Hussain Shah, MNA, Parliamentary Secretary for Railways, Member, National Assembly Standing Committee on Defence Production; Railways. Former Senator and Federal Minister for Information and Media Development, Mr. Javed Jabbar, joined the Dialogue as an Expert in his capacity as a veteran MP while the PILDAT Team, headed by Mr. Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, President PILDAT, includes Ms. Aasiya Riaz, Joint Director, Mr. Faheem Ahmed Khan, Projects Manager and Mr. Muhammad Saad, Assistant Projects Officer.

The Indian MPs joining the Dialogue include Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyar (INC; Tamil Nadu); Mr. Malikaarjun Kharge, (INC, Karnatka), Parliamentary Leader of INC in Lok Sabha, Dr. Shashi Tharoor, (INC, Kerala) Chairperson Standing Committee on External Affairs, Mr. Baijayant Jay Panda (BJD; Odisha), Mr. Feroze Varun Gandhi (BJP; Uttar Pradesh), Mr. Digvijaya Singh (INC, Madhya Pradesh), Prof. Saugata Roy (AITC, West Bengal), Mr. Hussain Dalwai (INC, Maharashtra), Mr. Ashwani Kumar (INC, Punjab), Mr. Pavan Kumar Varma (JDU; Bihar), Mr. Majeed Memon (NCP; Maharashtra), Mr. K. T. S. Tulsi (Independent; Punjab), Mr. Rajeev Shukla (INC, Maharashtra), Mr. Satyavrat Chaturvedi, (INC, Madhya Pradesh), Mr. Muhammad Salim, (CPI, West Bengal), Prof. M. V. Rajeev Gowda (INC, Karnatak), Mr. Naresh Gujral (SAD, Punjab), Mr. Rajeev Chandasekar (Independent, Karnatak) and Mr. Shatrughan Prasad Sinha (BJP, Bihar).

The Pakistan delegation, while in New Delhi, will be received by Honourable Mr. Hamid Ansari, Vice President of India and Chairman Rajya Sabha, for a call-on.

Dialogue series among Parliamentarians of Pakistan and India is aimed at facilitating a structured discussion among MPs from the two countries on issues of mutual interest and concern that impact the relationship between the two countries. As an independent Pakistani think tank, PILDAT (www.pildat.org) has been facilitating dialogues between Parliamentarians in order to enhance the role of Parliamentary Diplomacy in Pakistan�s relations in the region and around the World. To-date, PILDAT has facilitated 5 rounds of Dialogues: In Islamabad on January 06-07, 2011; in Delhi on August 17-18, 2011; in Islamabad on January 17-18, 2012; in New Delhi on August 23-24, 2012 and in Islamabad on September 19-20, 2013. Earlier, PILDAT had facilitated Parliamentary exchanges between Pakistan and India in 2004, 2006-07, 2008 and 2009.

Specific publications that have been published for the benefit of 6th round of MPs Dialogue include:

• Report: Pace and Progress of Pakistan-India Dialogue - January 2013 to November 2014


• Progress Report: Implementation Status on Recommendations from the Pakistan-India Parliamentarians Dialogues Since 2011


• Background Paper: Reset in Pakistan-India Relations


• Background Paper: India-Pakistan The Current Impasse