Gilani cancels US visit due to heavy floods in Sindh
ISLAMABAD, Sept 16 (APP): Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Friday called off his visit to address the 66th session of United Nations General Assembly in New York due to heavy floods in Sindh.The visit has been cancelled as the Prime Minister wanted to personally supervise the relief and rehabilitaion efforts, as millions has been rendered homeless and the flood waters has caused huger damage to life and property, Press Secretary to PM Akram Shaheedi told APP.He said Prime Minister Gilani telephoned Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar in Dubai and directed her to lead the Pakistan delegation at the UNGA.
He said Prime Minister Gilani will visit flood affected areas from Saturday and supervise relief efforts being undertaken by the national and provincial Disaster Management Authorities and other agencies.
The members of a Relief committee constituted by the prime minister;Senator Nayyar Hussain Bokhari, Syed Khurshid Shah, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Nazar Mohammad Gondal and Qamar Zaman Kaira will accompany the Prime Minister to the flood-affected areas.
Prime Minsiter Gilani was scheduled to hold several bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York with other heads of governments and states; including President of the Swiss federation Micheline Calmy-Rey, President of Iran Mahmoud Mahmadinehjad, President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai, President of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Republic of Palau Johnson Toriblong, Prime Minister of Nepal Baburam Bhattarai, Prime Minister of Belarus Mikhali V. Myasnikovich, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmusson, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
According to a Foreign Office source, the engagements of the Prime Minister were very important and would have gone a long way in strengthening and widening bilateral ties with all these countries.
He however, would now hold important bilateral meetings in the forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit (CHOGM) at Perth, Australia and the SAARC summit at Maldives in November, the source said.