Pakistan, June 24 -- Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has called on opposition parties to move beyond past political disputes and sign a new charter aimed at strengthening democratic norms and parliamentary traditions in Pakistan.

Speaking during a session of the National Assembly, Khawaja Asif said political forces should learn from past experiences and work together to reinforce democratic institutions. He noted that both major parties, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), had previously overcome political differences through the Charter of Democracy and benefited from that understanding.

The minister acknowledged that mistakes had been made by different political parties in the past but stressed...