President Asif Ali Zardari will lead the Pakistani delegation to the 16th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Tehran.
President Zardari during his visit is also expected to hold several bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit to be held from August 29-31, which will being attended by 120 delegates from developing countries.
He is expected to meet Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, whom he last met in April, during his day-long trip to India.
Manmohan Singh is expected to hold meetings with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and leaders of Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh, Indian media quoted Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai.
President Zardari will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, who will use the multinational forum to project Pakistan’s position on various international and regional issues.
During the two-day deliberations, world leaders and delegates from other countries will exchange views on latest developments in the world and issues related to NAM.
Along with the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, two kings, 27 presidents, eight prime ministers, nine vice-presidents, six special envoys and around 25 foreign ministers will attend the summit.
A spokesman of the Iranian Foreign Minister told reporters in Tehran that all neighboring countries of Iran were participating in the meeting. King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia had sent his special envoy, while Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa will also participate in the summit.
It will be the first visit by a Bahraini official to Iran since tensions between the two countries began last year. Egypt, which hosted the 15th Summit, will hand over the rotating chairmanship to Iran.
The 16th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) will be held at Tehran’s IRIB International Conference Center (IICC).
