NEW YORK: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar arrived in New York on Monday for the high-level week of the 81st United Nations General Assembly, where he is set to push Pakistan’s diplomatic priorities on Kashmir, Palestine, artificial intelligence and other regional and global issues.
Dar will take part in ministerial forums, bilateral meetings and high-level engagements from Sept. 21 to 25, while accompanying Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during the Pakistani delegation’s UNGA engagements. The Foreign Office said Dar will deliver Pakistan’s statements and interventions on key issues during the week.
Dar is scheduled to attend a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir, where he will reaffirm Pakistan’s support for the right to self-determination of Kashmiris, according to the Foreign Office.
He will also participate in several high-level meetings on Palestine, including a meeting of eight Arab-Islamic countries and a ministerial meeting of the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution.
The foreign minister is also scheduled to speak at a UN Security Council high-level briefing on artificial intelligence and attend a high-level meeting on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
He will chair a meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization Council of Ministers and hold bilateral talks with foreign counterparts. The Foreign Office said his engagements will focus on Pakistan’s efforts to promote regional and international peace and address major global challenges.
Dar was received in New York by Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Ambassador to the United States Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, Consul General Aamer Ahmad Atozai and officials from Pakistan’s UN mission and consulate.
The Pakistani delegation has been streamlined under the government’s austerity measures. Dar and senior foreign-policy adviser Tariq Fatemi are expected to form the core of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s delegation, while several federal ministers initially expected to travel were dropped, according to reports.
The visit comes as Pakistan seeks to use the UNGA platform to engage world leaders and counterparts on regional conflicts, multilateral cooperation and other issues on the international agenda.
