MALTA: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif arrived here Thursday to participate in the 24th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) being held on Friday and Saturday.
The Prime Minister was received here at the Luqa International Airport by Pakistan’s Ambassador to Tunisia Zaheer Pervaiz Khan and officials of the Malta government.
Begum Kalsoom Nawaz Sharif and PM’s Special Assistant Tariq Fatemi accompanied the Prime Minister. Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry were also present.
“The Prime Minister will present Pakistan’s point of view at the CHOGM’s two important sessions that will discuss violent extremism and radicalism, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and migration,” Ambassador Zaheer Khan told media here.
The Ambassador said Pakistan was part of the 53 Commonwealth states which made up one-fourth of the United Nations countries and thus had impact on the UN policies.
He said on the sidelines, the Prime Minister will hold meetings with British Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Francois Hollande and Prince Charles of Wales.
He said the Prime Minister would attend a banquet hosted by the British Queen and another banquet by Prime Minister of Malta Joseph Muscat.
The CHOGM being held in the Valletta capital the Mediterranean island state has this year’s theme as ‘Adding Global Value’.
The leaders will also elect the new Secretary General of CHOGM for the next four year term.
Pakistan is one of the eight founding members of the Commonwealth, and is enhancing its relations with the organization.
The Commonwealth comprises 53 member countries with 2.2 billion population. The total gross domestic product of Commonwealth states has been predicted as 13 trillion dollars by 2017.
Source: APP
