PM arrives in London to attend Queen Elizabeth’s funeral

Shehbaz will represent Pakistan at the state funeral of late Queen Elizabeth II in London on September 19, says FO

LONDON:

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday arrived in London to attend state funeral of late Queen Elizabeth II at the invitation of the British government.

The prime minister, during his visit to the UK, would represent Pakistan at the state funeral of late Queen Elizabeth II in London on September 19, the Foreign Office Spokesperson said in a press release.

According to Express News, PM Shehbaz will meet his brother Nawaz Sharif to discuss the current political and economic situation in Pakistan among other issues.

After the stay in the United Kingdom, the prime minister will leave for the United States to participate in the high-level debate of the 77th Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA).

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif being received on his arrival in London pic.twitter.com/etmZlBfMB7

— Prime Minister's Office (@PakPMO) September 17, 2022

Read SCO Summit: PM concludes Samarkand trip on ‘satisfactory note’

According to BBC, the funeral of Queen Elizabeth will take place at 11:00 BST on Monday, 19 September. It will be held at Westminster Abbey in London, the historic church where Britain's kings and queens are crowned.

The ceremony is expected to draw to a close just before noon, when the Last Post - a short bugle call - will be played. A two-minute national silence will follow.

After attending the funeral, the premier will leave for the United States the same day. In the US, PM Shehbaz will be addressing the 77th Session of UN General Assembly (UNGA), scheduled to be held from September 20 to 26 in New York.

He will also hold bilateral meetings with various international leaders.

A day earlier, the premier returned from his two-day visit to Uzbekistan, where he attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit.

At the summit, the prime minister called upon the member states of the SCO to devise Pakistan-specific programmes on climate change, which has induced devastating rains and subsequent floods in the country.

He stressed the dire need for assistance by the international community, including relief and rehabilitation.

The summit meeting adopted a joint statement that called for a “balance” between reducing carbon emissions and allowing poorer states to catch up with economically-developed countries.

The statement “unanimously recognised the negative consequences of climate change and the need for urgent action”.