WASHINGTON – Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected in New York on September 19 to attend the 77th session of the UN General Assembly.
As per the media reports, the prime minister is scheduled to address the General Assembly on September 23 and is expected to return to Pakistan the same evening.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Federal Minister for Broadcasting and Information Maryam Aurangzeb will accompany the prime minister.
The delegation will also include the foreign secretary and other senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other departments.
The foreign minister and Hina Rabbani Khar will travel onward to Washington on September 25 for bilateral meetings with US officials. They are expected to stay in the US capital until September 27.
This year’s General Assembly is particularly significant because this will be the first in-person summit of world leaders at the United Nations since 2019. The 2020 and 2021 sessions were converted into virtual meetings because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The prime minister will attend two more meetings on food insecurity and climate change.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres leaves after visiting flood-hit Pakistan