Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday left for New York where the Kashmir issue will be at the top of his agenda during the 71st session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly.

This will be his fourth address to the 193 member world body in his third term in office. The prime minister is expected to address the General Assembly on 21 September. He will enunciate Pakistan’s position on key global and regional issues, but especially focus on the situation in Indian-held Kashmir (IHK), a statement from the PM’s House read.

On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Nawaz will hold bilateral meetings with a number of world leaders, including the UN secretary-general and US President Barack Obama. He will be joined in New York by Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and other officials.

Nawaz will make two other statements at the UN in addition to his General Assembly address. Both will be at meetings that are being convened to focus on the global refugee crisis. This year’s General Assembly is taking place in the backdrop of grave human rights abuses in IHK being perpetrated by Indian occupation forces on innocent people.

The Indian state oppression and human rights abuses in IHK has drawn significant international attention, especially after the prime minister wrote two letters to the UN secretary-general demanding action to implement UN Security Council resolutions and immediate end to human rights’ abuses by the Indian occupation forces.

The prime minister will call upon the international community and the UN to live up to their promise of the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein has called on India to allow access to a UN fact finding mission to investigate human rights’ abuses in Kashmir. The prime minister will reinforce Pakistan’s call on the world body to play its role in immediately ending these grave violations. He is also expected to urge the international community to help in resolving the longstanding Kashmir dispute which is among the oldest items on the UN agenda. Among his many engagements in New York, he will also address a business meeting organised by the US-Pakistan Business Council and the US Chamber of Commerce.