Mission Kashmir: PM Imran Khan arrives in US

NEW YORK: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday arrived in the United States (US) on a week-long visit to attend the UN General Assembly session and hold high-level meetings with world leaders.

Upon arrival, he was received by Pakistan’s permanent representative to UN Maleeha Lodhi, the Pakistan Ambassador to the US and other senior officials.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Adviser on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, and Special Assistant on Overseas Pakistanis Zulfikar Bukhari are accompanying Prime Minister Khan on the visit.

The premier will lead the Pakistan delegation at the UN General Assembly session in New York from September 21-27. He will hold several bilateral meetings with his counterparts from various regions and participate in high-level UN summits on climate change, sustainable development, universal health coverage and financing for development.

The PM will also attend and speak at high-level side events co-hosted by Pakistan and Turkey on countering hate speech and environmental protection and poverty alleviation co-hosted by Malaysia and Pakistan.

A trilateral summit meeting of Pakistan, Malaysia and Turkey will be held on the General Assembly sidelines.

Apart from these engagements, PM Khan will interact with cross-section of international media outlets including meetings with editorial boards. His engagements at leading think-tanks and meetings with heads of major international human rights organisations are also envisaged.

Prime Minister Khan will deliver his address to the UN General Assembly on Friday, 27 September, and share Pakistan’s perspective and position on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute and its current human rights and related dimensions.

He will also avail the opportunity to articulate Pakistan’s perspective on some key contemporary issues. Overall, the centrality of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute would be emphasised through myriad engagements.