ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office has said that Pakistan’s active and prominent participation at the highest level in the opening segment of this year’s United Nations General Assembly session and related meetings was a manifestation of its support and commitment to the world body, and the purposes and principles enshrined in the UN Charter.
The Foreign Office Saturday shared the details with the media about Pakistan’s participation at the highest level in the opening segment of the UN General Assembly’s annual session from 21 September to 1 October 2020.
This year’s session was of enhanced significance due to the United Nations 75th anniversary celebrations.
Prime Minister Imran Khan reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to multilateralism; exposed egregious violations of human rights and international law in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK); called for realisation of the Kashimirs’ right to self-determination; and articulated Pakistan’s perspective on a host of contemporary global and regional challenges.
The limitations imposed by the Covid-19 necessitated the conduct of meetings in a virtual format.
The world leaders participated through video statements in the various events.
Prime Minister Imran Khan addressed High-Level Segment of the General Assembly on 25 September 2020.
The prime minister also participated as one of the key speakers in four other high-level events organised on the sidelines, pertaining to poverty alleviation; illicit financial flows; financing for development; and the Bio-diversity Summit.
He highlighted the three inter-linked dimensions of the developments in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), namely the gross and systematic violations of human rights being perpetrated by Indian occupation forces; the unilateral and illegal changes being implemented by India, inter-alia, to alter the demographic structure of the occupied territory; and the threat to peace and security posed by India’s ceasefire violations and bellicose rhetoric. The prime minister demanded the peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions and the wishes of the Kashmiri people.
He also shared Pakistan’s perspective on a wide array of issues confronting the international community such as the Covid-19 pandemic; debt relief measures for developing countries; financing for development; climate change; Islamophobia; the rise of extremist BJP-RSS “Hindutva” ideology; the Afghanistan peace process; Palestine; and a comprehensive reform of the United Nations.
In order to address the most pressing challenges currently faced by the international community, the prime minister offered concrete proposals including the following:
• Rich countries should support the creation of at least US$500 billion in new Special Drawing Rights and reallocation of unutilized SDRs to developing countries to allow fiscal space to deal with socio-economic challenges posed by COVID-19.
• The General Assembly should take the lead in efforts to build a global framework to stem the illicit financial flows and ensure speedy repatriation of stolen wealth.
• Commitments made through the Paris Agreement (on climate change) must be fulfilled, in particular the commitment to mobilize US$ 100 billion annually as climate finance.
• Willful provocations and incitement to hate and violence must be universally outlawed.
• The General Assembly should declare an “International Day to Combat Islamophobia” and build a coalition to end the scourge.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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