PM Imran receives grand welcome upon arrival after UNGA session

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan received a grand welcome on Sunday after returning to the federal capital following the 74th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

A large  number of Pakistan Tehrek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders and workers were awaiting the premier at the Islamabad International Airport to pay tribute to him after his successful speech delivered on Friday at the UNGA session in New York. 

The premier returned to the country via a Saudi commercial airline and received a grand welcome from leaders and workers of PTI who held placards and banners for the premier hailing PM Imran for his impressive speech at the UNGA session. 

PM Imran addressing the crowd at the airport, expressed gratitude to the public as well as his wife Bushra Begum as he said:  “I would first of all, like to thank the public, the way you prayed for me and the Kashmiris. I would also like to thank Bushra Begum for praying for me continuously. "

"Even if the world does not stand with Kashmir, Pakistan will always stand with them. We stand with them because we want to please Allah," he added. 

"You have to make sure to not be disappointed in times of hardship because the people of Kashmir are looking towards you. As long as they have us standing with them, they will continue their struggle and will attain freedom one day," he said. 

He vowed to  expose the atrocities of Modi’s fascist government on all platforms of the world. 

Earlier today, PTI’s Chief Organizer Saifullah Khan Niazi asked the party workers to reach the New Islamabad International Airport Sunday afternoon as the party would accord PM Imran with an unprecedented welcome, he said in a tweet.

More: Till Kashmiris given self-determination right, Pakistanis not to sit back

Senior PTI leader Jahangir Khan Tareen also took to Twitter to urge the party workers to attend the reception for the prime minister who he said had “fought Kashmir cause like a true hero”.

“Let’s celebrate this win by giving him a hero’s welcome tomorrow at 5pm at the New Islamabad Airport. Don’t forget to be there,” he tweeted with a hashtag #WelcomeHomePMIK which trended on Twitter.

Talking to media prior to his departure for the airport in New York, the prime minister when asked for a message to the people waiting to welcome him at the airport, he said it was Allah Who bestowed upon respect.

Earlier, the prime minister left New York onboard a commercial flight after his plane developed a technical fault on Friday night.

Technicians tried but could not fix the problem in the special plane, which was placed at his disposal by the Saudi government, after it landed back in New York.

Officials said it was then decided to return to Roosevelt Hotel where the prime minister had been staying during his seven-day visit to New York, and to take a regular Saudi Airlines flight Saturday morning for his return journey, as he was anxious to visit the earthquake-hit areas and families of the victims.