Islamabad, October 8, 2026. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Thursday that Pakistan is fighting a global war against terrorism. The meeting came on the last day of Guterres’s official visit, which ran from October 6 to 8.
Naqvi, joined by Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry, said 25 terrorist organisations operate in Afghanistan and threaten world peace. He asked the international community to work together against the threat. He said Pakistan will keep taking part in UN peacekeeping missions, that Pakistani police serve in UN police missions, and that 181 Pakistanis have died in UN peacekeeping service. Guterres called Pakistan’s participation prominent and said its role in world peace is commendable.
The remarks came amid tension with Kabul. Islamabad accuses the Taliban government of letting militants, including the Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan, operate from Afghan territory. Kabul and the UN say recent Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan killed civilians. Islamabad says the strikes hit terrorist hideouts.
Guterres arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday at the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar. It was his first visit to Pakistan since 2022, when he toured areas hit by catastrophic floods.
On Tuesday he met Dar and President Asif Ali Zardari. Zardari conferred the Nishan i Imtiaz on him, the first time Pakistan has given the honour to a UN secretary general. On Wednesday he called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. He also met Field Marshal Asim Munir, Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff.
In his meeting with Dar, Pakistan repeated its call for a peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute under UN Security Council resolutions. Dar also briefed Guterres on India’s decision to hold the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance. Zardari told Guterres the treaty is a binding agreement that cannot be suspended unilaterally. The two sides also discussed Palestine and Afghanistan.
Guterres visited the Islamabad headquarters of the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan, a mission set up in 1949 to monitor the ceasefire in Kashmir. He attended a briefing at the National Disaster Management Authority on disaster preparedness and early warning systems. On Wednesday he also spoke at the Foreign Service Academy on multilateralism and the role of the United Nations.
The US and Iran conflict featured in the talks. The war began on February 28, when US and Israeli attacks struck Iran. Pakistan hosted direct US and Iran talks in Islamabad on April 11 and 12, which ended without an agreement. Pakistan later mediated an interim memorandum, announced on June 14 and signed on June 17. It broke down on July 8 after Iran attacked commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. At a joint appearance with Dar, Guterres praised Pakistan’s pivotal role as mediator and urged both sides to end the conflict and return to diplomacy.
The Foreign Office said the visit let Pakistan reaffirm its long partnership with the UN and its support for multilateralism.
Guterres’s second term as Secretary General ends on December 31, 2026. The General Assembly is selecting his successor, who takes office in January 2027.
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