Sharif, Hasina to attend meeting on UN peacekeeping

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina would attend a meeting next week on UN Peacekeeping convened by US Vice President Joe Biden, the White House said.
On September 26, Biden has convened a summit on UN peacekeeping to underscore the international community's commitment to strengthening peacekeeping to address contemporary threats, said Caitlin Hayden, the Spokesperson of the National Security Council.
"The event will bring together top peacekeeping troop- contributors as well as top peacekeeping financial contributors; co-hosts are UN chief Ban Ki-moon, Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif," Hayden said.

"A number of countries are expected to use the summit to announce new commitments to peacekeeping, including direct contributions of troops and police, as well as new capacity- building efforts to strengthen peacekeepers worldwide."
India along with Pakistan and Bangladesh are among the top troop contributors to UN peacekeeping forces.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi would not be attending the summit as he arrives only later in the day to participate in the annual session of the UN General Assembly.
Sharif is scheduled to address the General Assembly in the evening of September 25, while Hasina is expected to deliver her speech on September 27, soon after Modi's maiden address to the General Assembly.