ISLAMABAD: Care­taker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar on Sunday left for the US on a five-day official visit to attend the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Mr Kakar during his stay will hold meetings with world leaders on the sidelines of the session.

The caretaker prime minister will also attend an important conference on climate change.

PM Kakar is also scheduled to interact with the international media and visit prominent US think tanks.

Before leaving for New York, PM Kakar reaffirmed that Pakistan would continue raising the issue of India-held Kashmir at all fora as it had been the UNSC’s oldest unresolved agenda item. In an interview, he said Pakistan had been regularly defending and advocating the Kashmir issue at all multilateral and regional fora and it would continue to do so till the resolution of the issue.

“There are gross human rights violations in India-held Kashmir and the entire area has been turned into the largest prison in the world while Kashmiris’ voices have been stifled,” he said.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2023