United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad for high-level talks on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, India's suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, and regional stability.
During talks at military headquarters, Munir and Guterres evaluated the prevailing regional security environment, the United Nations' peacekeeping role, cross-border terrorism, and India's continued abeyance of water-sharing mechanisms under the bilateral Indus treaty, which New Delhi halted last year.
According to a statement from military media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Munir reiterated Pakistan's commitment to international peace, whilst Guterres commended Islamabad's active efforts towards the peaceful resolution of regional conflicts.
Diplomatic mediation
In separate talks with Prime Minister Sharif, Guterres praised Pakistan's constructive contributions as an elected member of the UN Security Council, singling out its successful mediation between the United States and Iran that produced a ceasefire in April and a formal memorandum of understanding in June.
Sharif affirmed that dialogue remains the only viable path to conflict resolution, stressing the legitimate rights of the Kashmiri and Palestinian peoples, global UN governance reforms, and actionable counter-terrorism measures along the Afghan frontier.
Addressing diplomats at the Foreign Service Academy, Guterres warned that an evolving multipolar order does not guarantee stability, noting that international law is eroding whilst debt burdens stall global development goals.
On the Middle East, Guterres insisted that the two-state solution cannot be "allowed" to be "bulldozed away".
He also characterised climate change as an acute "threat multiplier" driving forced displacement and resource scarcity across developing countries, whilst calling for inclusive global artificial intelligence governance.
Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar reinforced Pakistan's diplomatic priorities, arguing that international law, territorial integrity, and Security Council resolutions must be upheld, describing the just resolution of the Palestinian and Kashmiri questions as primary benchmarks of global multilateralism.
Guterres concludes his three-day working visit on Thursday ahead of the conclusion of his second term as UN chief in December.
