By Lesia Senyshyn
The 75th anniversary session of the UN General Assembly will be remembered by the world, by the fact that it was held online for the first time, through the threat of the spread of the pandemic COVID-19 and this did not become a barrier to the speech of the heads of state and government of member states, who prepared their speeches in advance in the form of videos and voiced them in a new format.
The Secretary-General made a special statement on the occasion of the anniversary of the United Nations: “This time, United Nations Day also marks the beginning of our efforts to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations. In 2020, we will begin the largest global discussion on the role of international cooperation in building the future we want. ”
Analyzing the speeches of the leaders of the participating countries, it is important to note the speech of the Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan, who in his speech voiced important problems and touched upon a wide range of issues.
One of the main issues that Imran Khan raised earlier and voiced in his speech was the allocation of $500 billion in financial assistance to developing countries to combat coronavirus infection and its consequences.
“From the very beginning, it was obvious that developing countries would need budgetary space to respond to the coronavirus crisis and get out of it,” Khan said.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan called on the UN to establish an international day to combat Islamophobia.
“In many countries, attacks against Muslims go unpunished. Our shrines are destroyed, our prophet, peace will arrive with him, insult, the holy Koran is burned, and all this hiding behind freedom of speech. Incidents in Europe, including the re-publication of blasphemous cartoons [of the magazine] Charli Ebdo, are recent examples, “said Imran Khan.
“The secularism of Gandhi and Nehru [in India] was replaced by a dream to create a Hindu nation,” said Imran Khan.
In addition, Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed his serious concern about climate change.
“Unprecedented fires in Australia, Siberia, California, Brazil; unprecedented floods in various parts of the world; record temperatures even outside the Arctic Circle. This should cause us all concern for our future generations, “he said.
Pakistan is vulnerable to climate change, among the top ten countries most vulnerable to climate change. And for this, he said, his government took on the task of planting 10 billion trees, for which it enlisted the help of local communities.
In addition to ensuring climate resilience, Prime Minister Imran Khan recalled Pakistan’s unique ecological diversity and reaffirmed the country’s determination to preserve valuable assets and protect flora and fauna.
He told the world community that Pakistan is one of the happy countries that are ecologically diverse from north to south and from east to west. Pakistan has 12 climatic zones, and the reason is that we have the steepest gradient. In the north, the highest mountain in Pakistan is also the second-highest mountain in the world, К2. From there to the sea 2000 km.
In his virtual address, Khan also raised the issue of Kashmir.
Imran Khan recalled that for more than 72 years India had illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir against the will of the Kashmiri people and flagrant violations of the Security Council resolution and even its own obligations to the people of Kashmir.
“On August 5 last year, India illegally and unilaterally attempted to change the status of the occupied territories and deployed additional troops, bringing their total number to 900,000 to besiege 8 million Kashmiris. All political leaders of Kashmir were imprisoned; some 13,000 Kashmiri youths were abducted and thousands tortured; full was introduced curfew, accompanied by a complete disconnection of communications. The Indian occupation forces used brute force, including shotguns, against peaceful protesters; imposed collective punishments, including the destruction of entire neighborhoods, and extrajudicially killed hundreds of innocent young Kashmiris in fake “clashes,” refusing to even transfer their bodies for burial…, “the Pakistani prime minister said.
Imran Khan at the session of the UN General Assembly also touched on the issue of the Afghan crisis. Pakistan’s desire for peace in the region is also reflected in its efforts to advance a political solution in Afghanistan.
Pakistan’s contribution to the peace process was appreciated by the international community and the commencement of negotiations in Doha was a turning point.
The Afghan leadership must seize this historic opportunity for constructive cooperation and a comprehensive political settlement.
Imran Khan confirmed that Pakistan will support the decisions taken by the Afghan people regarding the future of Afghanistan.
