NEW YORK: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is scheduled to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump on September 23 on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, according to high-level sources cited by local media.
Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will host a reception dinner for heads of state and government attending the assembly on the evening of September 23 at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel on Madison Avenue, the sources said. Sharif has received an invitation to the dinner, which several world leaders will attend.
The meeting would mark the first face-to-face interaction between Sharif and Trump in seven months, following the conclusion of the Board of Peace meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
Sharif is scheduled to arrive in New York from London a day before the reception and will address the General Assembly on September 25. He is expected to raise India’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, citing a recent verdict by the Permanent Court of Arbitration that rejected India’s contention. According to the sources, several countries beyond Pakistan’s traditional allies have assured Islamabad of support for its position.
The prime minister will also highlight the Kashmir dispute, which he says poses a continuing threat to regional and global peace. He will outline Pakistan’s role in promoting regional peace and its diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire and cessation of hostilities in the Middle East.
Sharif is also expected to refer to a trilateral collective security arrangement between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye signed in Makkah last month. He will brief the international community on Pakistan’s counterterrorism efforts and raise concerns over India-sponsored terrorism in Pakistan, including the use of Afghan territory as a conduit for such activities.
On the sidelines of the assembly, Sharif will meet several world leaders, including Bangladeshi Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, with whom he is expected to hold his first meeting.
The high-level General Debate of the 81st U.N. General Assembly is scheduled for September 22-26 at U.N. headquarters in New York. Sharif is slated to be the fourth speaker during the second half of the session on September 25.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not attend the assembly for the second consecutive year, the sources said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to address the General Assembly on September 24. Afghanistan is scheduled to be among the final speakers on the concluding day.
