By Hamza Ameer

Islamabad, Mar 20 (IANS): Pakistan has welcomed a second term for Antonio Guterres as UN Secretary General, expressing its complete support to him.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi held a telephonic conversation with Guterres, welcoming his "availability to serve a second term in office".

"The Foreign Minister reaffirmed Pakistan's abiding commitment to multilateralism, with a strong UN playing a central role for the delivery of its mandates that meet the expectation of the Member States," a press release issued by the Foreign Office said.

"The UN Secretary General valued Pakistan's constructive contributions towards the effective functioning of the Organisation in the different areas of its work, calling Pakistan a fundamental partner of the United Nations. The Secretary General especially lauded Pakistan's Presidency of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for the promotion of the socio-economic development agenda," it added.

Apart from sharing views on various issues including the Covid-19 situation, economic recovery in the wake of the pandemic, international debt relief efforts, equitable availability of vaccines for the developing countries and peace keeping, Qureshi reiterated Islamabad's desire to see more active role of the UN in the Jammu and Kashmir issue between India and Pakistan.

The current scenario and situation in Afghanistan was discussed with both leaders agreeing that "the Afghan peace process should be taken forward through consultations and in a manner that helps establish durable peace, stability and prosperity in Afghanistan and the region".

"Secretary General Guterres briefed the Foreign Minister on UN efforts with regard to the situation in Afghanistan. The Foreign Minister underscored Pakistan's positive contributions to the Afghan peace process, noting that it is imperative for the concerned parties to seize the historic opportunity and work together for securing an inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive political settlement while guarding against the role of spoilers," the Foreign Office release said.

Pakistan has been putting its efforts to not only make UN, be more active in reference to the longstanding dispute of Jammu and Kashmir, which Islamabad maintains needs to be resolved as per the US resolutions. It has also been trying to stop India from becoming a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

The current government of Prime Minister Imran Khan has been claiming to become the ambassador of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute to the world and has been trying to use the UN platform to gather diplomatic support for its position. However, till now, Pakistan's efforts has not gotten ample support from the UN member states as Islamabad has struggled to satisfy other countries, as it seeks their intervention and support in the pending issue with India.

But with the second term in office for Guterres, Islamabad is hoping to make better progress, with hopes of getting support from the Secretary General against what it calls India's "ongoing brutalities" in Jammu and Kashmir.