No meeting of Pak-India army chiefs at UN

ISLAMABAD: Indian Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag will be facing disappointment tomorrow (Friday) at the UN Headquarters New York when he will not get an opportunity to have a meeting with his counterpart from Pakistan General Raheel Sharif as he had been expecting to have a meeting with him in New York.
The Indian general is on his way to the UN Headquarters where he will attend an inaugural United Nations conference on peacekeeping operations tomorrow. The occasion will bring together the defence chiefs of UN member states.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will open the first Chiefs of Defence Conference’ organised by the Departments of Peacekeeping Operations and Field Support.
India being one of the major contributors of troops to UN peacekeeping operations will be represented by Gen Suhag. While Pakistan’s Army Chief General Raheel Sharif was originally scheduled to participate in the conference but he wouldn’t be attending the meet due to his engagements back home. He will be represented by one of the corps commanders.
The day-long conference will focus on UN peacekeeping operations in the current political, strategic and operational environment as well as on the future of UN peacekeeping. Discussions would also focus on challenges and opportunities for mission support in peacekeeping operations and performance challenges in the current security environment. The defence chiefs will hold discussions with Under Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations Herve Ladsous and his Under Secretary General for Field Support. Several senior UN peacekeeping officials, including Military Adviser for Peacekeeping Operations to the UNSG Lieutenant General Maqsood Ahmed of Pakistan, will also take part in the discussions in the conference.
Pakistan’s permanent representative for the UN Ambassador Dr Maleeha Lodhi will also attend the conference who has assumed the slot last month and taking part hectically in the World Body’s activities for highlighting the image of her country. She had an important meeting other day with the senior army officers belonging to Pakistan and working for the peacekeeping on behalf of the United Nations.