ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Monday met United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres in Islamabad, with the two sides discussing a range of regional and global issues related to peace and security, according to the Foreign Office (FO).
As per the FO, the meeting covered key issues including Palestine, Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Afghanistan, counter-terrorism and the future of multilateralism.
Guterres arrived in Pakistan in the early hours of Tuesday for an official visit, during which he is due to meet Pakistan’s president, prime minister and military chief and hold discussions on regional and international issues.
“Guterres appreciated Pakistan’s longstanding contribution to the United Nations as well as its diplomatic efforts to promote dialogue, mediation and de-escalation,” FO said.
It said that Dar briefed the UN secretary-general on Pakistan’s positions on Jammu and Kashmir and the Indus Waters Treaty, reaffirming Pakistan’s call for a just and peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with relevant UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.
The deputy prime minister also underscored Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts to promote dialogue and de-escalation, including its facilitation of the Islamabad Talks between the Iran and United States.
On the occasion, Guterres said: “I salute Pakistan’s leadership for helping to create the conditions for dialogue between the US and Iran and mediating that conflict. Your efforts helped deliver the Islamabad memorandum of understanding, the subsequent ceasefire and the framework for future negotiations. Every Pakistani should be proud of that pivotal role,” he said.
“And from Islamabad, I want to send a loud and clear message to all parties: end the conflict, return to diplomacy and restore navigational rights in accordance with international law. There will never be peace in the region until the right of self-determination of the Palestinian people is recognised, as Pakistan has long championed,” he said.
As a UN secretary general, Guterres’ first visit to Pakistan was in February 2020, about three years after he was elected to the position in 2016.
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