11th of July – Good morning from New York. I arrived at midnight on the 9th and had a day on the 10th to recover from jet lag. I think I slept for about 8 hours in the last 48 hours.
Yesterday, I walked for about 25 km from midtown to Central Park and back. I went to the Guggenheim and The Met from morning till evening. I visited these museums some 10 years ago and they are much better than those in London. I was particularly happy to see my favourite Francis Bacon painting on display. Also overjoyed to see several Giacommetti sculptures and a painting too.
After that, I then had two sets of official meetings from 6 pm to 9.30pm. I met the Malaysian mission officials, who briefed me on SDG 13 climate change and SDG 16. This was followed by a working dinner with representatives from the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and the Westminster Foundation for Democracy.
This morning, I will be joining the Speaker of Belize, two senior MPs, one from Canada and the other from UK to give short speeches followed by a longer Q&A forum on UN’s SDG 16. The talk will be held at the UK Mission to the United Nations.