UNITED NATIONS – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres onSaturday warmly congratulated Imran Khan on the assumption of office asprime minister, with the hope that under his leadership UN-Pakistancooperation will be further strengthened in various fields, including theworld body’s flagship peacekeeping operations around the globe.-
“I trust that under you leadership, our cooperation will be deepened andlook forward to meeting you in person during the upcoming seventy-thirdsession of the United Nations General Assembly,” the UN chief said in aletter that conveyed to PM Imran Khan his “warmest personal regards.”
The 193-member Assembly’s session is set to open on September 18, while thehigh-level general debate will begin on September 25. So far, 154 heads ofstates/government have confirmed their attendance.
Pakistan, the secretary-general said, has been U.N.’s “reliable partner”,particularly in peacekeeping and via active support of United Nationsactivities throughout the world.
One of largest contributors of uniformed personnel to UN Peacekeeping,Pakistan currently provides nearly 6,000 military and police personnel tothe UN peacekeeping operations in the Central African Republic, theDemocratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Mali, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudanand Western Sahara.
Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi is co-chairperson of the Group ofTroop and Police Contributing Countries to the UN peacekeeping operations,which facilitate an exchange of views on issues of concern to thetroop-contributing countries and discussions on responses to the newchallenges facing world peace and security.
In his letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan, Guterres also said, “The UnitedNations looks forward to supporting Pakistan, including through jointprojects and the United Nations Country Team, in fighting terrorism andviolent extremism, achieving sustainable development goals, promoting humanrights as well as in other agreed fields.”
On Friday, Imran Khan was declared elected as prime minister of Pakistanafter he comfortably won the vote in the National Assembly.