Daily Times

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi Tuesday said Pakistan welcomes UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ offer of using his good offices in resolving the outstanding issues between Pakistan and India.

Talking to media here after concluding ceremony of the two-day international refugee conference, the foreign minister said Indian reaction to UN secretary general’s offer shows India is avoiding resolution of the outstanding issues. He reiterated that Kashmir is an internationally recognised disputed territory and India cannot enforce its illegal unilateral decisions there.

On Sunday, the UN chief had offered his role as a mediator for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute and said that his good offices could be used for this purpose. Talking about Pakistan-India relations, Guterres had stressed the need for de-escalation, both militarily and verbally.

However, India had on Monday rejected the UN chief’s offer for mediation, with the spokesperson for India’s ministry of external affairs saying, “The issue of [Jammu and Kashmir] that needs to be addressed is that of vacation of the territories illegally and forcibly occupied by Pakistan.”

Earlier, addressing the concluding session of the conference, the foreign minister said the participants of the conference applauded the unparalleled solidarity and hospitality of Pakistan and Iran and commended their inclusive policies towards Afghan refugees.

The conference recognized and highly appreciated Pakistan’s generosity and progressive policies that had enabled millions of Afghan refugees and nationals to access refuge, health, education, livelihood and social mobility without any discrimination. The participants stressed that the ultimate solution lied in Afghanistan and that voluntary repatriation and sustainable reintegration is the preferred solution for the majority of Afghan refugees.

The participants highlighted that to enable sustainable return and reintegration, a pre-requisite would be a comprehensive Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process and urgent investment in the priority areas of return. The conference acknowledged that the Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity could yield peace dividends for the entire region, provided that there is a firm political will to implement it.

The conference was attended by more than 500 participants including Prime Minister Imran Khan, secretary general of the United Nations, second vice president of Afghanistan, UN high commissioner for refugees, ministers and other high-ranking representatives of the government.