Guterres praises Pakistan’s role in US-Iran dialogue during Islamabad visit

UN Secretary-General António Guterres visited Pakistan from 6 to 8 October, meeting senior political and military leaders and urging the parties to the US-Iran conflict to return to diplomacy, according to a United Nations account published on 20 October. [1]

In Islamabad, Guterres praised Pakistan’s role in creating conditions for dialogue between Washington and Tehran. He said its efforts had helped deliver a 17 June memorandum of understanding, a subsequent ceasefire and a framework for further negotiations. He called on all parties to end the conflict, return to diplomacy and restore navigational rights and freedoms under international law. [1]

Guterres also met Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, and Field Marshal Asim Munir, the chief of defence forces and army chief. The UN account said he discussed terrorism with Munir and expressed the UN’s solidarity with Pakistan in addressing the threat. [1]

During the visit, Zardari conferred Pakistan’s Nishan-e-Imtiaz, its highest civil award, on Guterres. The Secretary-General said he accepted it on behalf of UN staff serving around the world, including in Pakistan. He also visited the National Disaster Management Agency for a briefing on the country’s preparedness and resilience since the floods, and met UN peacekeepers serving with the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan. [1]

Addressing students and foreign service officers at Pakistan’s Foreign Service Academy, Guterres spoke about diplomacy, inequality, climate change and artificial intelligence. He said international cooperation was increasingly difficult just when it was most needed, amid growing conflicts and deepening human suffering. [1]