Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif is currently in Malta to participate in the 24th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) being held on Friday and Saturday.
The prime minister was received upon his arrival on Thursday at the Luqa International Airport in Valletta, the capital of the Mediterranean island state, by Foreign Minister of Malta George William Vella, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Tunisia Zaheer Pervaiz Khan, and officials of the Maltese government.
Begum Kalsoom Nawaz Sharif and the PM’s Special Assistant Tariq Fatemi accompanied the Prime Minister. Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry were also present.
According to Ambassador Zaheer Khan, 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.
The leaders will also elect the new Secretary General of CHOGM for the next four year term.
He said that on the sidelines the Pakistani prime minister will hold meetings with British Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Francois Hollande, and Prince Charles of Wales.
He said that the prime minister will also attend a banquet hosted by the British Queen and another banquet hosted by Prime Minister of Malta Joseph Muscat.
Born out of the British empire, the Commonwealth of Nations brings together around a quarter of the world’s countries and a third of its population. Its focus nowadays is split between democracy, development and diversity.
Leaders from the family of 53 nations are gathering on the Mediterranean island for the Commonwealth’s biennial summit opening today. Countries such as Britain, Canada, India, Pakistan and South Africa are sitting down on equal terms with tiny Caribbean island nations and developing microstates.
Maltese host Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said he was targeting strong outcomes rooted in “realism” as the organisation tackles issues of “direct concern” – namely climate change, extremism, trade and migration issues.
