UNITED NATIONS: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will address the 193-member UN General Assembly on September 21 at which his focus will be on Afghanistan and Kashmir issues as well as Myanmar’s Rohingya crisis.
Khaqan will reach New York on Monday evening on his maiden visit to the United States since he assumed the Office of Prime Minister of Pakistan on August 1, 2017.
While briefing the media, Pakistan’s ambassador to the United Nations Maleeha Lodhi said in his address at the World Parliament, the prime minister would outline Pakistan’s positions on key international political, social and development issues of vital concern to the Country.
Maleeha Lodhi said the prime minister would also have nine sideline nine bilateral meetings including with the US Vice President Mike Pence.
The ambassador said more bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the UN general assembly session could also take place as the prime minister’s four-day visit proceeds.
His bilateral meetings will be with the Jordanian King and leaders of Turkey, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Iran, the United Kingdom and Nepal. He will also have talks with the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
In addition, the prime minister will exchange views with former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and some US business leaders.
Moreover, on the sidelines of the UN general assembly session, the prime minister will address the Council on Foreign Relations besides interacting with the US Pakistan Business Council. He would also have extensive interaction with the international media.
In the course of the assembly session, ministerial-level meetings of many regional and sub-regional organizations will be held including Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), G-77, Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Commonwealth, D-8 and others.
Likewise, a meeting of the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir will also be held in New York.
The 72nd Session of the UN general assembly has 174 items on its agenda after a new item was inscribed on Friday.
It is entitled: “The responsibility to protect and the prevention of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.”
More than 100 heads of state/government have signed up for the high-level debate which begins on Tuesday.
The debate defines international responses to many of the global challenges of today including protracted conflicts, extreme poverty and hunger, terrorism, the refugee crises and climate change.
