ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office said on Thursday that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will visit New York on September 23 to attend the United Nations General Assembly session.
In his weekly press briefing in Islamabad on Thursday, Foreign Office Spokesperson Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry said during his week-long stay (September 23 to 29) in the United States‚ the prime minister will address the UN General Assembly on September 27.
“He (prime minster) will highlight Pakistan’s point of view on various regional and international issues besides domestic priorities,” the spokesman said.
The spokesman said the prime minister will apprise the session about the efforts of the present government to curb the menace of terrorism besides its endeavor to bring stability to the region.
The prime minister will also hold bilateral meetings with world leaders on the sideline of the UN General Assembly session, the spokesman said, adding that he will discuss various bilateral and regional issues with these leaders.
Chaudhry said it is expected that the prime minister will also attend various events during his stay in New York including high level meetings on millennium development goals‚ sustainable development and nuclear disarmament.
The spokesman said both Islamabad and Washington are in touch for a meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and US President Barack Obama in the coming months. He said this meeting will not take place on the sidelines of UN General Assembly meeting due to paucity of time.
To a question‚ he said both India and Pakistan are also engaged to arrange a meeting of the prime ministers of the two countries in New York.
“Both the leaders are expected to consider ways to resume dialogue between Pakistan and India to resolve all outstanding issues,” he said.
Talking about the recent cross-border firing from Afghanistan which killed five Pakistanis, the spokesman said that Pakistan is deeply concerned over the incident.
“The charge D’affaires of Afghanistan in Islamabad was summoned to Islamabad and Pakistan’s sentiments on the incident were conveyed to him,” the spokesman said.
The spokesman said Pakistan has asked the Afghan government to investigate the matter and respect the existing coordination mechanisms to avoid recurrence of such incidents in future.
“Afghanistan is a brotherly neighbouring country and Pakistan desires to have cordial relations with it,” he said, hoping that this incident will not affect the bilateral relations between the two countries.
Chaudhry further said Pakistani government has decided in principle to release Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, former Afghan Taliban second-in-command, at an appropriate time. He said “The purpose of releasing the Taliban detainees was to contribute to the reconciliation process.”
The Foreign Office spokesman said the Taliban detainees were released on the request of Afghan government‚ adding Pakistan will continue to take steps for the success of reconciliation process.
The spokesman said Pakistan has taken steps of establishing peaceful relations with all neighbors including Afghanistan. He hoped Pakistan’s sincerity will be seen and reciprocated.
