More than one hundred leaders will take part in the debate on some of the key regional and global issues at 72nd session of the UN General Assembly as sluggish economic growth, ongoing Middle Eastern conflicts, North Korean nuclear and missile tests, climate change, terror threats like ISIS and new issues including ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya minority in Myanmar pose serious security challenges.
President Donald Trump, who has been critical of the world body, will deliver his first address to the Assembly and is likely to touch on issues including North Korean nuclear and missile threats.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, is also scheduled to take part.
This year’s theme will likely draw a wide spectrum on ‘Focusing on People: Striving for Peace and a Decent Life for All on a Sustainable Planet’.
“The UN was created for people,” the President of the General Assembly, Miroslav Lajcak , said his opening address on Sept 12.
“The people who need the UN the most are not sitting in this hall today,” he told delegates from around the world. “They are not involved in the negotiation of resolutions. They do not take the floor at high-level events. It is one of the tasks of the General Assembly to make sure that their voices can still be heard.”
Among the issues likely to receive attention are protracted conflicts, extreme poverty and hunger, the refugee crises and climate change. “Combined with the number of heads of government expected to attend, the list was well over 100,” Brendon Varma, Spokesman of the General Assembly President, said.
There are 174 items on the Assembly’s agenda after a new item was inscribed on Friday. it is entitled: “The responsibility to protect and the prevention of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.”
South Asian security situation will also figure with Prime Minister Abbasi expected to address the Assembly on Thursday.
In an interview with Quartz-India, a website owned by Atlantic media company, Pakistan UN Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi said that the prime minister will raise the Kashmir dispute, especially now that the dialogue process between New Delhi and Islamabad is stalled.
“When the bilateral track (talks) has been stopped in its tracks by the present Indian government, then, I think, for Pakistan to raise the issue of Kashmir internationally becomes even more important,” Ambassador Lodhi said. “It’s very important for the international community to hear Pakistan, and they will hear Pakistan. They will hear Pakistan loud and clear.”
Afghanistan is likely to be a contentious issues with India and Afghanistan likely to back the new U.S. strategy announced by President Trump.
Pakistan, which was singled out as a cause of Afghan troubles, is likely to voice its concerns and emphasize a political solution to the 16-year-old conflict on its Western border.
On the eve of the session, Guterres, the UN chief, highlighted the grave situation confronting Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingya Muslims. He called for Muslims from the country’s Rakhine state to be granted nationality or at least a legal status that would allow them to lead a normal life, while also urging the international community to help provide assistance for the nearly 400,000 people who have fled into Bangladesh.
“I call on the Myanmar authorities to suspend military action, end the violence, uphold the rule of law, and recognize the right of return of all those who had to leave the country,” the Secretary-General said.
