NEW YORK, May 11: Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri will arrive in New York on Monday to preside over a special session of the UN Security Council.

Pakistan, which heads the UN Security Council this month, has organized the special session on May 13 in which a large number of member states are expected to speak on the theme, “The role of UN in the settlement of disputes.”

At Pakistan’s initiative, the Security Council has included this event in its official agenda in an effort to explore the possibilities of utilizing the modalities set out in Chapter VI of the United Nations charter, to resolve disputes festering in various countries.

The discussions will encourage the Security Council to play a significant role in settling disputes like Kashmir, Palestine, etc., where UN resolutions have remained unimplemented for a long time, said Munir Akram, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UN. These include negotiations, use of good offices, and mediation.

“The agenda for this event also includes Afghanistan and Palestine, where diplomatic movement is under way,” he said.

Pakistan’s top diplomat will also have bilateral meetings with other UN members before moving to Washington where he is scheduled to meet Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and President Bush’s national security adviser Condoleezza Rice. Secretary Colin Powell will be away, visiting Europe and the Middle East.

Mr Kasuri’s meeting with Mr Armitage will be particularly significant because the US official would have just returned from his peacemaking trip to South Asia.

“This will allow the foreign minister an opportunity to have a first-hand impression of Mr Armitage’s meetings in New Delhi and Kabul,” said a Pakistani diplomat in Washington.

Mr Armitage returns from his South Asia visit on the evening of May 11 after meeting Afghan and Indian leaders.

During his two-day stay in the US capital, Mr Kasuri is also expected to meet a number of US Senators and Congressmen and address a meeting at the Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based think-tank.

He leaves for London on May 16 where he is scheduled to meet the Secretary General of the Commonwealth.