ISLAMABAD: The President-elect of the Seventy-fifth Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Volkan Bozkir, called on Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday, said a press release issued on Monday.

The prime minister extended warm felicitations to Bozkir on his election as the president of the historic 75th Session of the UN General Assembly.

During the meeting, Prime Minister Khan apprised the PGA-elect of the serious situation in the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), an issue that was on the agenda of the UN Security Council for over seven decades.

The prime minister highlighted the dire human rights and humanitarian situation in the IIOJK since 5th August 2019, as well as the ongoing gross and systematic violations of human rights of the Kashmiri people, and the attempts to change the demographic structure of the occupied territory.

He stressed that the UN must play its rightful role in addressing the grave situation and ensuring that Kashmiris exercise their right to self-determination promised to them in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions. The prime minister apprised the PGA-elect of his government's initiatives to mitigate and suppress the socio-economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, focused on saving lives, securing livelihoods, and stimulating the economy.

He informed that his government deployed an $8 billion stimulus package for the poor and the needy. This was the highest social security coverage by any government in the history of Pakistan. The prime minister further highlighted his call for "Global Initiative on Debt Relief" and stressed the need to provide greater fiscal space to the developing countries to overcome deleterious socio-economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. The prime minister also highlighted the high importance he attached to addressing climate change, countering Islamophobia, and combating illicit financial flows from developing countries.

He expressed the hope that the 75th Session of the UNGA would accord priority to these issues, which had affected billions around the world.-PR

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020