Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif arrived in Malta on Thursday to participate in the 24th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) being held on Friday and Saturday.
The prime minister was received at the Luqa International Airport by Malta’s Foreign Minister George William Vella, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Tunisia Zaheer Pervaiz Khan and officials of the Malta government.
Begum Kalsoom Nawaz Sharif and PM’s Special Assistant Tariq Fatemi accompanied the prime minister. Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry were also present on the occasion.
“The prime minister will present Pakistan’s point of view at CHOGM’s two important sessions that will discuss violent extremism and radicalism, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and migration,” Ambassador Zaheer Khan told the news agency.
The ambassador said that Pakistan was part of the 53 Commonwealth states which made up one-fourth of the United Nations members and thus had an impact on the UN policies.
He said that on the sidelines, the prime minister will hold meetings with British Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Francois Hollande and Prince Charles of Wales.
He said the prime minister would attend a banquet hosted by the British Queen and another by Malta’s Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.
The CHOGM is being held in the capital Valletta. The Mediterranean island state is hosting the meeting with this year’s theme ‘Adding Global Value’.
The leaders will also elect the new Secretary General of CHOGM for the next four years.
Pakistan is one of the eight founding members of the Commonwealth and is enhancing its relations with the organization.
The Commonwealth comprises 53 member countries with a population of 2.2 billion. The total gross domestic product of the Commonwealth states is estimated to grow to 13 trillion dollars by 2017.