President Alvi attends inaugural session of NAM Summit

BAKU: President Dr Arif Alvi on Friday.attended the inaugural ceremony of the 18th Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Baku, Azerbaijan. 

More than hundreds heads of state and government attended the inaugural session. President Alvi also met several heads of states on the sidelines during his visit, including President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani, Prime Minister of Malaysia Mahathir Muhammad, President of Ghana Tijani Muhammad Bande, and the leaders of Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkmenistan.

NAM was established in 1961 in Belgrade, former Yugoslavia. It is a forum of 120 developing world states that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide.

Later talking to his Iranian counterpart Dr. Hassan Rouhani in Baku, emphasized the need to fully utilize the trade potential between Pakistan and Iran to further enhance bilateral economic relations.

The president said that Pakistan considers Iran as an important country as both countries share more than 900 km border, and strong people-to-people contact has further strengthened the bond of friendship between the two countries. He said that both the countries need to fully utilise the trade potential to further enhance bilateral economic relations.

President Alvi briefed the Iranian President on the continuous lockdown and the human rights violations in the Indian Occupied Kashmir. The president thanked the Iranian leadership for its continued commitment and support towards oppressed people of held Kashmir.

The Baku Summit will feature deliberations on the theme of “Upholding the Bandung Principles to ensure concerted and adequate response to the Challenges of Contemporary World”.

The summit will also adopt a final document that reflects the Movement’s collective positions on global, regional, economic and social issues.

This document reaffirms the centrality of the UN Charter and international law principles including the inalienable right to self-determination of people under foreign occupation.

During the Summit, the president will share Pakistan’s perspective on a range of global, regional and other issues of contemporary salience, particularly spotlighting the rights, concerns and aspirations of the Kashmiri people.

Pakistan continues to be an active member of NAM and has contributed significantly to the shaping of the Movement’s positions on a range of political, legal, economic and social issues and subjects.