UNGA president-elect to arrive in Pakistan today

ISLAMABAD: The incoming president of the United Nations General Assembly will arrive in Pakistan on Sunday (today) for a two-today visit on the invitation of the government of Pakistan.

According to a statement issued by Foreign Office spokesperson, after his visit to the country, last month was postponed due to some “technical flight problems”.

The statement further said Volkan Bozkir will undertake the August 9-10 visit on the invitation of the Pakistani government.

During the visit, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi will have wide-ranging talks with Bozkir on issues relating to the three main pillars of the UN’s work — peace and security, development, and human rights. The UNGA president-elect will also call on Prime Minister Imran Khan.

His visit is an important opportunity to “highlight Pakistan’s strong and substantive contributions to the United Nations efforts in the promotion and maintenance of international peace and security, especially through our contribution to the UN peacekeeping operations around the world”, the FO observed.

Pakistan remains committed to supporting the role of the UNGA on the questions relating to international peace and security, economic and social development, promotion and protection of human rights, peaceful settlement of international disputes, refraining from the threat of use of force, and developing friendly relations among nations, it added.

On a social media website Twitter today, Bozkir said as the president-elect, he was visiting a number of countries “per usual practice”.

“Within this scope, I will fly to Islamabad tomorrow, to pay my earlier postponed visit to Pakistan,” he wrote, adding that he will exchange views on issues and priorities of the agenda of the 75th session of the UNGA with the Pakistani leadership.

1) As the President-Elect of the 75th Session of the UNGA, per usual practice, I continue to visit a number of countries upon their invitations. Within this scope, I will fly to Islamabad tomorrow, to pay my earlier postponed visit to Pakistan.🇺🇳🇹🇷🇵🇰

— Volkan BOZKIR (@volkan_bozkir) August 8, 2020

He said the visit to Pakistan would have to wait. “I am hoping to visit Pakistan in the near future and looking forward to a fruitful exchange with the Pakistani authorities, regarding the issues & priorities on the United Nations 75th General Assembly agenda,” he wrote.

Foreign Minister Qureshi while tweeting in response to Bozkir said that “I look forward to welcoming you to Pakistan soon for a constructive and fruitful visit.”

Turkish diplomat Bozkir was elected president of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly in June and was originally scheduled to arrive in Islamabad on July 26.