The possibility of the United Nations Secretary General’s visit to Pakistan

Washington: United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres is likely to visit Pakistan this month to attend a conference on refugees.

United Nations and diplomatic sources said that Antonio Guterres is expected to visit Pakistan at the end of this month.

An official statement from Islamabad said that Pakistan will hold an international conference this month to mark the 40th anniversary of the presence of Afghan refugees in the country.

According to the statement, a 2-day conference titled ’40 years of Afghan refugees in Pakistan: A new partnership for solidarity’ will be held in Islamabad on February 17 and 18.

In the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it was said that this conference will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Imran Khan, in which participants will come from 20 countries.

In this regard, sources in New York said that since the United Nations Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) is the co-host of this conference, the Secretary General of the United Nations and other important officials will also participate.

Apart from the United Nations, multilateral development banks, international refugee organizations and major non-governmental organizations will also send their representatives to participate.

In this context, the spokesperson of the Foreign Office in Islamabad while talking to the journalists said that “this conference will be held on a very important occasion when the efforts to stabilize peace in Afghanistan are progressing”.

On the other hand, diplomatic observers in Washington said that the Secretary General of the United Nations will arrive in Islamabad at a time when Occupied Kashmir is facing a major humanitarian and security crisis.