UNGA president due in Pakistan next week

Pakistan to brief Maria Fernanda Espinosa on India's brutalities in Occupied Kashmir

APP: UN General Assembly President Maria Fernanda Espinosa will hold extensive talks with Prime Minister Imran Khan and other Pakistani leaders on global and regional issues during her forthcoming visit to Pakistan next week.

Espinosa will arrive in Islamabad on January 18 on a five-day visit. Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United Nations Dr Maleeha Lodhi said on Saturday after meeting the General Assembly president to finalise her visit itineraries.

“Our leadership looks forward to having wide-ranging discussions with Madam Espinosa on global and regional issues,” the ambassador told APP. During the meetings is Islamabad, she added, the General Assembly president will be briefed on the situation in the Indian-occupied Kashmir.

We are the voice of Kashmiris: Maleeha Lodhi

Espinosa is also the foreign minister of Ecuador. Her visit to Pakistan, which will be her first to the Asia-Pacific region, was announced by her spokesperson Monica Grayley at the regular noon briefing at UN Headquarters in New York on Friday.

“The President of the General Assembly looks forward to strengthening the ties between Pakistan and the UN, promoting multilateralism and continuing her work with Pakistan on the priorities for the 73rd Session of the General Assembly,” the spokesperson told reporters.

On her part, the Pakistani envoy pointed out that this will be the first visit by any president of the General Assembly to Pakistan in over eight years. “It is also the first visit by the senior UN leadership to Pakistan since the advent of the government led by Prime Minister Imran Khan,” Ambassador Lodhi said.

Espinosa is only the fourth female President of the UN General Assembly in its 73-year history. During the visit, the UNGA president will meet Prime Minister Imran Khan, President Dr Arif Alvi and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, as well as representatives of the UN and of civil society.

Ambassador Lodhi said President Espinosa will have an opportunity to also meet with women Parliamentarians in Pakistan and visit the Centre for International Peace and Stability, which is Pakistan’s Peacekeeping Training Centre.