NEW YORK, Sept 7: President General Pervez Musharraf arrived in Boston on Saturday morning on a week’s visit to the United States during which he would deliver an address to the UN General Assembly, meet the US President George Bush, and attend the special commemoration of Sept 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.
At the United Nations, President Musharraf will also hold bilateral meetings with the Japanese Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi, and prime minister of Denmark who also holds the rotating presidency of European Union, and the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan.
The Sept 11 commemoration would be attended by dozens of heads of government and state from around the world. The annual UN General Assembly session, which usually begins in the third week of September, was pushed up to facilitate the world leaders to attend the ceremonies at the WTC site, now named Ground Zero.
Since Pakistan is considered to be a front-line state in the US-led war on terrorism Gen Musharraf is expected to be the focus of attention at the ceremonies.
Besides visiting his son in Boston, Gen Musharraf will give a speech at Harvard University’s forum of Public Affairs at the John F. Kennedy School on Sunday.
He will fly to Chicago on Sept 9, and will also speak at a luncheon meeting of the Council of Foreign Relations.
In New York, he will attend a large community dinner organized by the Pakistan Embassy on Wednesday Sept 12 and address the Asia Society on Sept 13.
He is also expected to meet the editorial boards of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.
His official delegation includes Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Inamul Haq, Information Minister Nisar Memon, and senior officials, personal and security staff.
At the United Nations, President Musharraf is expected to be the fifth speaker following President Bush’s address.
In his address the president is expected to speak about Pakistan’s role in the international community’s war against terrorism.
He would also make a case for the resolution of Kashmir dispute and ask the world community to intervene in resolving the dispute which threatens to escalate into a full-fledged war.
The US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, and more recently, US Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage, have declared that the Kashmir dispute is on the agenda of international community.
Although the Indian prime minister would be there to attend the UN General Assembly session, he has declined to meet President Musharraf over the Kashmir dispute.