NEW YORK, Aug 31: President Pervez Musharraf’s one-to-one meetings with the US President George Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, will top his full agenda when he comes to New York to attend UN Summit meeting on September 13, Pakistan mission and embassy spokesmen here told Dawn.
Gen Musharraf also has over two dozen bilateral meetings scheduled with other heads of states and governments including leaders of China, Iran, Syria, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and many other meetings are being finalized the sources here said.
In a major policy speech to the world leaders attending the summit Gen Musharraf is expected to highlight Pakistan’s crucial role on the war on terrorism, the need to address the root causes of unrest around the world and he would stress urgent need to alleviate tensions between Muslims countries and much of the world. He will underscore the need to resolve the Kashmir issue in accordance with the wishes of Kashmiri people.
Over 175 world leaders are expected to attend the UN summit meeting where the issues of terrorism, UN development goals and the war in Iraq are expected to be front and centre of the issues which will be part of the discussions among world leaders as they consider the UN outcome document on world body’s reforms.
Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Syria’s leader President Bashar Assad are also expected to be at hand for the UN world summit.
Earlier a controversy erupted over Iranian President’s visit and a US visa required for him to land in New York to be at the United Nations.
President Musharraf will also speak at the International Convention on terrorism spearheaded by British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
In an effort to underscore his vision of “enlightened moderation” Gen Musharraf will address a meeting of Jewish leaders, a first for any Pakistani leader. He will also speak at a fund-raiser meeting with the Pakistani community, an interfaith meeting sponsored by the Philippines government, a women representatives meeting and a youth conference.
Kashmiri leaders Yasin Mallik, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and the President of Azad Kashmir are also expected to meet Gen Musharraf at the sidelines of the UN summit.
Gen Musharraf will also attend luncheon meeting with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and a luncheon to be hosted by the incoming and outgoing presidents of the UN General Assembly, Jan Eliason of Sweden, and Jean Ping of Gabon respectively.
CENTCOM: Gen Musharraf is also expected to fly to Tampa Florida to visit US Central Command headquarters there on the invitation of Gen Johan Abizaid commander of Centcom, following his UN Summit meeting Pakistan embassy and mission sources here told Dawn.
Centcom chief Gen Abizaid extended the invitation to Gen Musharraf during one of his meetings with the president in Islamabad recently.
Headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, United States Central Command (US Centcom) is one of the nine Unified Combatant Commands assigned operational control of US combat forces. Centcom is headed by Gen John Abizaid.
A Unified Combatant Command is composed of forces from two or more services, has a broad and continuing mission, and is normally organized on a geographical basis into regions known as “Areas of Responsibility” (AORs). US Cencoms’s AOR stretches from the Horn of Africa to Central Asia..
