Senior UN official skips Pakistan visit, cites flight issue

Published July 26, 2020
Turkish diplomat Volkan Bozkir was elected president of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly last month. — AFP
Turkish diplomat Volkan Bozkir was elected president of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly last month. — AFP

The incoming president of the United Nations General Assembly announced on Sunday that he was postponing his visit to Pakistan due to "some technical flight problems”.

Turkish diplomat Volkan Bozkir was elected president of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly last month and was scheduled to arrive in Islamabad on Sunday.

But in a Twitter post, he said the visit to Pakistan's capital would have to wait. "I am hoping to visit Pakistan in the near future and looking forward to a fruitful exchange with the Pakistani authorities, regarding the issues & priorities on the United Nations 75th General Assembly agenda."

In response, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi tweeted: "I look forward to welcoming you to Pakistan soon for a constructive and fruitful visit."

Earlier, Qureshi, while announcing the visit, had hoped he would discuss a range of issues with Bozkir, including Kashmir.

Qureshi said he would present to Bozkir Pakistan's position on occupied Kashmir, which he had said was suffering the "worst human rights situation" in the world.

The foreign minister had added that he would also inform Bozkir about the atrocities committed by the Indian army in occupied Kashmir.

Opinion

Editorial

Ties with Tehran
Updated 24 Apr, 2024

Ties with Tehran

Tomorrow, if ties between Washington and Beijing nosedive, and the US asks Pakistan to reconsider CPEC, will we comply?
Working together
24 Apr, 2024

Working together

PAKISTAN’S democracy seems adrift, and no one understands this better than our politicians. The system has gone...
Farmers’ anxiety
24 Apr, 2024

Farmers’ anxiety

WHEAT prices in Punjab have plummeted far below the minimum support price owing to a bumper harvest, reckless...
By-election trends
Updated 23 Apr, 2024

By-election trends

Unless the culture of violence and rigging is rooted out, the credibility of the electoral process in Pakistan will continue to remain under a cloud.
Privatising PIA
23 Apr, 2024

Privatising PIA

FINANCE Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb’s reaffirmation that the process of disinvestment of the loss-making national...
Suffering in captivity
23 Apr, 2024

Suffering in captivity

YET another animal — a lioness — is critically ill at the Karachi Zoo. The feline, emaciated and barely able to...