UNGA president to arrive in Pakistan on Jan 18

ISLAMABAD: United National General Assembly (UNGA) President Maria Fernanda Espinosa will arrive in Pakistan on January 18 on a five-day visit.

During her stay in the country, Espinosa will hold extensive talks with President Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Imran Khan, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and other Pakistani leaders on global and regional issues.

“Our leadership looks forward to having wide-ranging discussions with Madam Espinosa on different issues,” Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UN, Maleeha Lodhi, told APP.

During the meetings in Islamabad, she added, the UNGA president will also be briefed on the situation in the Indian-occupied Kashmir.

Espinosa is also the foreign minister of Ecuador. Her visit to Pakistan, which will be her first to the Asia-Pacific region, was announced by her spokesperson Monica Grayley at the regular noon briefing at UN Headquarters in New York on Friday.

“The president of the General Assembly looks forward to strengthening the ties between Pakistan and the UN, promoting multilateralism and continuing her work with Pakistan on the priorities for the 73rd Session of the General Assembly,” the spokesperson told reporters.

On her part, the Pakistani envoy pointed out that this will be the first visit by any president of the General Assembly to Pakistan in over eight years. “It is also the first visit by the senior UN leadership to Pakistan since the advent of the government led by Prime Minister Imran Khan,” Ambassador Lodhi said.

Espinosa is only the fourth female president of the UNGA in its 73-year history.