UNITED NATIONS: Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari arrived in New York on Tuesday on a seven-day visit for talks with world leaders at the UN headquarters and with senior US officials in Washington.

“The foreign minister’s programme includes multiple multilateral and bilateral engagements in New York and Washington,” his office said in a statement issued after his departure from Islamabad.

During his six-day stay in New York, the foreign minister will host and chair the ministerial conference of the G-77 and China — the largest negotiating bloc of developing countries within the UN system.

FM will also meet senior US officials in Washington

Mr Bhutto-Zardari will also meet UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres during his stay in New York. On Dec 14, he will participate in a debate at the UN Security Council on the “Maintenance of International Peace and Security: New Orientation for Reformed Multilateralism”.

The minister will travel to Washington on Dec 19 where he will hold meetings with high-level government officials, congressional leaders, Pakistani-American businessmen, and community members. He will also engage with think-tanks and the media.

He will share Pakistan’s perspective on climate change and the colossal damage inflicted by climate-induced floods in Pakistan, Foreign Office.

At the UN, the foreign minister will chair a ministerial meeting of the group on development, which will be Pakistan’s last as G77 chair. Islamabad assumed the group’s leadership in January 2021, while Cuba will chair the G77 and China for 2023.

Published in Dawn, December 14th, 2022