Pakistan PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to bring up Kashmir, Rohingyas in UN General Assembly speech

Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will highlight the Kashmir and Rohingya issues in his address to the 72nd United Nations General Assembly. He's likely to use his interactions with American officials to halt a rapid deterioration in US-Pakistan relations, reports said.

The Pakistan Prime Minister, who reached New York on Monday afternoon, is scheduled to meet a dozen world leaders during his four-day stay. But all eyes are on on his Sept 21 meeting with US Vice President Mike Pence.

The Trump administration sent a no-so-subtle message while scheduling President Donald Trump's engagements with world leaders: Pakistan was kept out of even casual meetings with



Trump.

The US President's first casual meeting on Monday was with Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina when he walked up to her after addressing a UN Management, Security and Development event, and greeted her warmly.

Abbasi is likely to use his Sept 21 meeting with US Vice President Mike Pence to halt deterioration in ties.

Briefing the Pakistani media on the prime minister's engagements in New York, three senior Pakistani officials - Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua, Permanent Representative to the UN Maleeha Lodhi and Ambassador Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry - tried to downplay the impact of US-Pakistan relations on his engagements at the UNGA.