Tun Dr Mahathir has packed schedule meeting world leaders as soon as he arrives in New York on Tuesday.

Dr M to meet British PM on sidelines of UN general assembly

YUSHAIMI YAHAYA
New Straits Times24 September 2018



NEW YORK: British Prime Minister Theresa May will meet Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on Wednesday on the sidelines of the 73rd United Nation General Assembly here.

May will call on Dr Mahathir, scheduled to arrive here tomorrow (Tuesday), to discuss a host of bilateral issues.

It will be the first time the prime ministers will meet after Dr Mahathir became the premier in May.

Dr Mahathir, who will have a packed schedule in New York, will first meet Qatar Emir Sheikh Hamad Al Thani on Tuesday.

Other than May, he will also hold bilateral meetings with Iranian president Hassan Rouhani the day after.

Among others, they are expected to discuss the situation in West Asia.

Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena is also scheduled to meet Dr Mahathir on Wednesday.

A string of interviews with Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, TRT World, sessions with investors and fund managers, Council on Foreign Relations, among others, have also been lined up.

Dr Mahathir will also attend the Second Annual Bloomberg Global Business Forum, address a session at the Asia Society and attend dinner functions with the US-Asean Business Council and US Chamber of Commerce as well as the Malaysian diaspora in New York.

The highlight of his trip here will be his delivery of Malaysia’s statement at the assembly’s general debate on Friday - nearly 15 years after he last spoke at the UN podium.

Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah, at a dinner he hosted at the Malaysian mission here on Monday night, said Dr Mahathir would lay out the framework of the Pakatan Harapan government’s foreign policy.

Saifuddin himself has a tight schedule here where he is expected to meet, among others, his Sudan counterpart Dr Dirdeiry M. Ahmad.

Other than Saifuddin, Dr Mahathir will be accompanied by his wife Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali, Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu, Health Minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, and senior government officials. © New Straits Times Press