ACTIVITIES OF SECRETARY-GENERAL IN PAKISTAN, THAILAND, 23–25 JANUARY
The Secretary-General left Tokyo for Islamabad, Pakistan, on the morning of Wednesday, 23 January, stopping in Bangkok, Thailand, to pick up a private plane that Qatar made available to him for the next legs of his trip.
In Bangkok, he was greeted at the airport by the Thai Foreign Minister, Min Surakiart. After a chat, they met with the press.
In his opening statement, the Secretary-General said that he and the Minister had discussed the United Nations operation in Afghanistan and Thailand’s possible contribution. The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, participated in those discussions.
A journalist asked whether the recent shooting incident in Calcutta could lead to an escalation of tensions between India and Pakistan. The Secretary-General responded, “It is worrying, but I hope it doesn’t escalate matters further. I think the two countries can only solve their problems through political and diplomatic means”.
Asked if there could be a role for the United Nations in assuring humanitarian treatment of Afghan prisoners at the United States base in Cuba, the Secretary-General said, “Our position is very clear, that the prisoners must be treated humanely and in accordance with internationally accepted norms... And we expect that to be done”, he added.
Before leaving for Islamabad, the Secretary-General met briefly with the former Foreign Minister of Thailand, Surin Pitsuwan.
On arrival in Islamabad, he was met by Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Abdul Sattar.
The Secretary-General began his visit to Pakistan on Thursday morning with a meeting with representatives of about a dozen United Nations agencies working in the country. They reported on their programme activities. For example, the head of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reported that some 45,000 refugees had been moved out of the temporary camp at Jalozai to more comfortable quarters and that the camp would be closed in about two weeks. The refugees caught in a no man’s land at Chaman crossing were now settled and that problem was solved. He added that the managed return of refugees to Afghanistan would get under way by the end of March.
After that meeting, the Secretary-General made an unscheduled visit to the Pakistan Human Development Forum, a three-day meeting at which the Government was to present its long-term strategy for social and human development to donors and non-governmental partners. President Pervez Musharraf laid out the Government’s plan for economic revival, poverty reduction, good governance and political restructuring. The Secretary-General spoke briefly off the cuff, saying that as someone who has always believed we should put human beings at the centre of everything we do, he was pleased by what he had heard. When governments report to the General Assembly on their progress towards achieving the millennium goals, “We will have an interesting story to tell from Pakistan”, he said.
In the afternoon, the Secretary-General met with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Abdul Sattar, for about an hour. Their discussions focused on rebuilding Afghanistan while stabilizing that country and on the India/Pakistan relationship, including their tensions over Kashmir.
Exiting from that meeting, the Secretary-General was met by several Kashmiri women, who presented him with flowers and a document.
He and the Foreign Minister then gave a joint press conference. In his opening statement, the Secretary-General stressed the need to resolve Pakistan’s differences with India, including over Kashmir, through peaceful means. “The immediate need is for military de-escalation”, he said, but that was not enough. He called for a two-pronged approach: first, “sustained and determined action against extremist armed groups” and second, “sustained and determined dialogue between Pakistan and India”.
On Afghanistan, he said, “A stable Afghanistan is in the interest of all its neighbours, and constructive cross-border relations would give a real boost to stability throughout the region”.
In the evening, he met with President Musharraf with whom he discussed India/Pakistan, Kashmir and Afghanistan.
He and the President then had a working dinner hosted by the President.
The Secretary-General and his party departed Pakistan for a one-day visit to Afghanistan on Friday, 25 January.