Some, who see this as a distinct possibility, say that this might take over a decade because of the complexities involved in the matter, but what is important is that the ball must be set rolling, and a South Asian parliament (SAP) will become a reality one day. The idea is being coined largely in the line with the European parliament, notwithstanding the fact that Europe and South Asia are not similar, and the recent crisis in the EU caused by the French "no" vote on the constitution.

On the contrary, the two are different in many ways, the most important being that European political and economic advancement is far ahead of South Asia. True, South Asia is not a continent as such, but it is the most populous region of the world having more than one fifth of the mankind. The region has been coming up in global discussions for some time now, particularly with the emergence of Saarc twenty years ago.

As Saarc is becoming a known forum -- albeit with some criticisms about its slow progress in achieving its objectives -- the concept of the SAP is also coming increasingly to the fore. Admittedly, only few see this as viable possibility in the immediate future. However, this view has not deterred the concept being advanced by different quarters associated with the region.

The promoters of the concept concede that such a parliament in the line of the European parliament is handicapped on several grounds, but insist that this can be floated, taking into account the distinct features of the region. They agree that the political maturity of Europe and the broad similarity among countries there on matters of their policies and approaches on global issues helped the European parliament come into being, and this is in somewhat sharp contrast to the South Asian region.

Nations of this area in many cases do not see eye to eye on global issues, and what is more unfavourable is that rivalry and enmity among some members of the region at bilateral level makes the parliament here a reality difficult. Then again, the promoters argue that this was the case for Saarc when the idea was mooted, but this has become a reality and the SAP will also be the same, belying skepticisms that persist in certain quarters.

A recent important high-profile conference of the parliamentarians of the South Asian countries in Pakistan dwelt upon the matter in great detail when the whole issue came for discussions -- analysing the pros and cons of the concept from different angles without being unnecessarily euphoric about it. The five-day conference brought in leading parliamentarians of the region, cutting across their national and party divides, with a view to discuss several issues pertaining to close cooperation among the Saarc nations, but the focus of the gathering was on the prospects of a South Asian parliament.

In fact, this was the main theme of the meeting held under the aegis of the South Asian Free Media Association (Safma),a regional body of prominent media people, which earlier held gatherings on different issues with the meeting in Islamabad/Murree mainly for the parliamentarians although editors, senior journalists, and experts were also there.

From India, more than thirty lawmakers came from practically all major political parties ranging from national political parties like the Congress, BJP,CPM, and CPI, to regional parties like Rastriya Janata party in Bihar to Telegu Desam in southern Andha Pradesh and National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir, who have representation in the federal parliament.

Hosts Pakistan had similar representation, including lawmakers from ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-e-Azam) to opposition Peoples Party and Muslim League (Nawaz), and parliamentarians from the six-party Islamic alliance MNA and the largely Karachi based MQM.

From Bangladesh, twelve lawmakers -- five from ruling BNP, four from main opposition Awami league, one each from Jamaat-e-Islami and Jatiya party, and one independent member -- took part in the conference.

Same was the case with Sri Lanka. There is no functioning parliament at present in Nepal, and their delegation chose not to attend as one of their colleagues was not allowed to leave the airport. However, media, civil rights activists, and others came from Nepal. Needless to say, two other small nations within the Saarc family -- Bhutan and the Maldives-- were not much in the reckoning as far as the regional parliament is concerned, for obvious reasons.

The parliamentarians during the long discussions -- mainly on the basis of two key papers presented by two experts -- discussed the nitty gritty of the issue and adopted resolution in this regard. The conference overwhelmingly endorsed the view to initiate a process of moving towards the creation of an institutional interactive mechanism for parliamentarians of South Asia, keeping in mind the concept of a South Asian parliament.

A full-fledged SAP may take a decade or two, but it is time to initiative moves in that direction, the parliamentarians agreed. To begin with, the conference proposed creation of an intra-parliamentary union in South Asia. Saarc may agree in principle to create a South Asian parliament and appoint a group of experts responsible before the Saarc Speakers Forum to prepare a comprehensive report and timeframe to establish it through an evolutionary process.

One of the key papers on the issue was presented by Dr. S.D. Muni of Jawharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, in which he broadly espoused the cause of the SAP and went into detail on the matter, including how it should be viewed as viable and more importantly representative for all the member nations so that none considers it a dominant platform of the big countries, notably India.

He had done plenty of research on the subject, recollecting how it has come to the fore as well as drawing analogy with similar parliaments and of course the European parliament. Dr. Muni's concluding remark was that it is possible and the concept should be pursued from now on so that a South Asian parliament is not a distant goal. However, he was not euphoric as he was also aware of the problems and obstacles that may stand on the way, but the bottom line is that this should emerge for the larger interest and identity of the region.

However, the second paper on the matter by Pakistan's noted parliamentarian and thinker Aitzaz Ahsan was not as enthusiastic as that of Dr. Muni, although he broadly supported the concept of the SAP. A lawyer by profession, the Pakistan Peoples Party lawmaker sounded caution in forwarding the concept in haste as he felt this requires sufficient ground work and other preparations.

The conference witnessed lengthy discussions on the issue and members were divided whether the process should start immediately or not, but all were unanimous on the need of the SAP. Most of the members were of the opinion in line with Dr. S.D. Muni, although they stressed the need for caution as well. Indian communist MP Nilotpal Basu was particularly in favour of the position of Mr. Ahsan while most other favoured immediate initiatives.

Finally, the conference came out with agreed resolution: "To ensure greater role of the elected representatives of the people in regional cooperation, the participants overwhelmingly endorsed the view to initiate a process of moving towards the creation of a South Asian parliament, with of course, caution as expressed by some participants, while taking into account the pros and cons of its creation in stages. A full fledged SAP may take a decade or even two, but it is time to initiate process in this direction."

In any case, the issue of South Asian parliament is now gaining more and more prominence -- despite the impression and belief that it is unlikely to emerge in the near future. But the SAP is now being talked about in responsible and important quarters and as such it may be a reality some day. This, when it occurs, will certainly be a great leap forward for the region -- home of more than 1.4 billion people.

Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury is Senior Special Correspondent of BSS.