UN Chief In Pakistan

Islamabad, Aug 14, IRNA - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Pakistan early Tuesday on a two-day visit to talk with senior officials of the country on major issues, focusing on disaster management, peace and education, officials said. Ban will meet with Pakistani President Asif Zardari, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and several other senior officials and attend the Independence Day celebrations on Aug. 14, they said. Minister for Petroleum, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Pakistan ambassador to UN, Masood Khan received the UN chief on his arrival in Islamabad. Ban is accompanied by his wife, Mrs Ban Soon-taek and several UN officials. During the visit, views will be exchanged on important global and regional issues, the Foreign Ministry said. The UN chief will inaugurate the Center for International Peace and Stability at the National University of Science and Technology in Islamabad to highlight Pakistans role in UN peacekeeping missions and will attend an event on youth and education. Pakistan attaches great significance to the visit of the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon,” the Foreign Ministry spokesman, Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry said in a statement. In New York, Eduardo del Buey, deputy spokesperson for Ban, said he will also hold discussions with the disaster management authority of Pakistan. Ban is also expected to meet with students in the capital Islamabad to promote quality education for all, following a UN event Malala Day on July 12 in honor of a Pakistani girl, Malala Yousafzai, for her heroic stand against the Taliban to ensure education for all. State radio had earlier reported the UN chief would also discuss with Pakistani officials measures to eradicate polio from Pakistan. The World Heath Organization says Pakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan only three countries remain polio-endemic in the world in 2013. Taliban have banned the polio vaccination in Waziristan as a protest against the US drone strikes and concerns that the polio teams could use the campaign for espionage. The series of attacks on the polio vaccination teams in recent months have affected the anti-polio drive. Section of the media says that Ban is expected to discuss the current tensions between Pakistan and India that is also a matter of concerns for the international community./end