Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Saturday left for New York to attend the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). According to Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria, the Prime Minister would lead Pakistan delegation to the 71st Session of the UNGA in New York from September 19, 2016. The annual session of the General Assembly has special significance as it is attended by a large number of heads of state and government, he added.
In his address to the UNGA, the Premier will call upon on the international community to live up to their promise of right to self-determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions. According to the spokesperson, the Prime Minister will make a policy statement in the UNGA General Debate on 21st September to enunciate Pakistan's position, role and contribution on key international issues ranging from peace and security to development, and highlight the vision and priorities of the government. "The Prime Minister will specifically focus on the current situation particularly the continuing grave violations of human rights by the Indian occupation forces in the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir," he said.
He added that the Prime Minister will also participate in the high-level meeting of the General Assembly to address large movements of refugees and migrants on 19 September and the Leaders' Summit on Refugees convened by President Obama on 20th September.
"Pakistan will avail of these high-level meetings to highlight its tremendous contribution to the cause of refugees as the host of the world's largest protracted refugee situation, and urge the international community to devote adequate political attention and support for the voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan and their sustainable reintegration in Afghanistan", he added.
On the sidelines of the UNGA, Zakaria said the Prime Minister will hold bilateral meetings with a number of world leaders, including the UN Secretary-General. The Prime Minister is also likely to interact with business leaders and select members of media, he added. However, it was not specified whether Prime Minister's meetings with important world leaders including US President Barack Obama, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Indian counterpart Narendra Modi were scheduled or not.
On the margins of the session, Zakaria added that ministerial level meetings of many regional and sub-regional organisations are also held, including OIC, G-77, ECO, Saarc, Commonwealth, D-8 and others. There will also be a meeting of the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir, he added. He pointed out that Pakistan is a great advocate of multilateralism and the United Nations to promote collective responses to the multifaceted challenges of global peace, security and development. "We would continue our constructive role and engagement at the UN with a view to protecting and promoting our national interests, including on core issues such as Jammu & Kashmir, reform of the Security Council, counter-terrorism, human rights, peacekeeping, and a host of development and other matters," he added.
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