Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi met UN Secretary General António Guterres at the UN Headquarters in New York. The Foreign Minister briefed the UN Secretary General on the grave situation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and presented a Dossier containing details of the gross, systematic and widespread human rights violations; war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocidal acts being perpetrated by Indian occupation forces; and illegal attempts to change the demographic structure of IIOJK in violation of UN Security Council resolutions and international law. With regard to the situation in Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Qureshi urged positive engagement and requisite action by the international community to provide humanitarian assistance and financial support to Afghan people in order to promote peace and stability in the country. The Foreign Minister welcomed the High-Level Ministerial meeting on the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan convened by the UN Secretary General on 13 September 2021. He highlighted Pakistan’s role in the evacuation and relocation of UN and international staff, as well as establishment of a humanitarian corridor in support of the UN efforts for the delivery of relief goods through air and land routes to Afghanistan. Foreign Minister Qureshi and Secretary General Guterres were of the view that urgent and unconditional humanitarian assistance as well as financial support should be provided to the Afghan people to prevent a humanitarian disaster or an economic collapse. The Foreign Minister suggested the implementation of a roadmap to promote peace and stability in Afghanistan. The Foreign Minister underscored the need for stemming the rising tide of intolerance, discrimination, violence and Islamophobia. He also called for ending vaccine inequity and ensuring adequate financing for developing countries to enable them to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, the accompanying economic crisis, and undertake climate-related actions.
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