Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Donald Trump are scheduled to meet twice this month when the Pakistani leader travels to New York for the UN General Assembly session amidst high-stakes developments concerning Kashmir and Afghanistan.
According to a Pakistan Today report, the two leaders will meet over lunch and high tea during the global gathering of leaders that takes place at a time of heightened tensions in South Asia where India has ended autonomy of the disputed Jammu and Kashmir territory.
The August 5 move – led by the nationalist Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi – has pushed South Asia on the edge with unprecedented clampdown with suspension of fundamental rights of the people.
Pakistan’s PM Khan has castigated Modi’s move as “fascism” and the policies of his BJP ruling party as those of the Nazis who perpetrated much suffering on people and Europe during the WWII.
Khan and Trump had an extensive meeting at the Oval Office on July 22, 2019 where President Trump offered to mediate on the thorny question of Kashmir between nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan.
Their talks in New York will test diplomacy and peace efforts for both hotspots – Kashmir , which is a UN recognized dispute and Afghanistan, where peace has been as elusive as ever.
On Pakistan’s western border, Afghanistan is facing uncertainty after President Trump called off a secretly planned Camp David meeting with the Afghan Taliban and Afghan president that would have come with an Afghan peace deal.
After canceling the planned talks on the eve of September the 11th terror attack anniversary, President Trump has fired his National Security Adviser John Bolton, who vehemently opposed the move to host the Afghan Taliban. Meanwhile, a U.S. delegation is reportedly traveling to Islamabad to resume the Afghan peace talks.
Both the issues will be high on the agenda when the two leaders meet. Trump has been calling for a withdrawal of U.S. forces and his special envoy held nine rounds of talks with the Taliban in Doha Qatar for a peace agreement that would offer a way to end the war.
In response to Trump’s request, Pakistan facilitated the talks between the U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and the Afghan Taliban representatives.
I commend the 58 countries that joined Pakistan in Human Rights Council on 10 Sept reinforcing demands of int community for India to stop use of force, lift siege, remove other restrictions, respect & protect Kashmiris' rights & resolve Kashmir dispute through UNSC resolutions.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) September 12, 2019
Meanwhile, Imran Khan has thanked 58 countries who supported Pakistan’s condemnation of the Indian atrocity in Kashmir at a UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva.
The United Nations and world human rights organizations have condemned Indian atrocities in Kashmir and called for immediate end to the communication blockade. A group of US senators and two members of Congress have written letters, seeking Washington’s urgent role toward ending the plight of the Kashmiris, who have also faced Indian security forces’ pellet guns and harsh torture methods for opposing the move.
