K.Tokayev: Inter-parliamentary ties – important channel of communication of nations
As the Senate’s press service informs, the current meeting is notable for participation of the heads of international parliamentary organizations –chairpersons of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly as well as the speakers of the parliaments of different countries.
K.Tokayev delivered a speed at a narrow-format meeting which focused on the prospects of interaction of inter-parliamentary organizations regarding acute issues of the international agenda. Having emphasized the role of parliamentary diplomacy, the speaker of the Kazakh Senate drew his colleagues’ attention to some areas of cooperation which the global parliamentary community should concentrate on.
According to Tokayev, the deputies of the parliaments must enhance legal countering the international terrorism which turned into a common enemy for all the nations and ‘does not recognize any boundaries, national sovereignties, cultures and traditions’. The Speaker invited his colleagues to partake in "Religions Against Terrorism" conference scheduled for May 31 in Astana which is expected to bring together the parliamentarians from every corner of the world and the representatives of the world and traditional religions.
Secondly, in his opinion, nuclear proliferation poses an existential threat to the mankind. “This has been spoken about many times – by politicians, scholars, civil community – but little is done in practice. Parliamentarians must firmly say “no” to nuclear proliferation. We need to achieve full disarmament and stand for implementation of the Nuclear Weapons Non-Proliferation Treaty and soonest enactment of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty,” pointed out Tokayev.
“The third area of international activity of parliamentarians is countering militarism both at the national and international levels,” he said and added that enormous amounts of funds (up to 2 trln U.S. dollars) spent on military needs could be redistributed for development purposes. The Speaker cited the Kazakh President’s Manifesto “The World. The 21st Century” and noted that parliamentarians are imposed special responsibility for prevention of further spread of the virus of war which poisons the international situation.
Fourthly, according to the Senate Chairman, multilateral parliamentary diplomacy must actively promote trade-economic ties and encourage cultural and humanitarian exchange.
K.Tokayev called on to denounce blocking the parliamentarians’ participants in inter-parliamentary forums, since “inter-parliamentary ties must remain an important channel of communication of the nations”.
During their visit to Saint Petersburg, Kazakhstani senators participated in IV International Forum “Eurasian Economic Perspective” and in the sessions of the permanent commissions of the CIS IPA on the issues culture, information, tourism and sport; on studying the experiences of state building and local self-governance; on political issues and international cooperation; on agrarian policy, natural resources and ecology as well as on legal issues.
The 44th plenary session of the Assembly will discuss the draft CIS Convention on Cooperation in Research and Peaceful Use of Space, the model laws “On fundamentals of development of bioenergy”, “On ecological expertise”, “On distribution and use of GMOs in export of agricultural products”, “On preservation, sustainable use and rehabilitation of biological diversity” and “On enlightenment activity”.
The 44th plenary session of the CIS IPA will be held May 20. 
