Islamabad

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is likely to visit Pakistan later this month to attend a refugee conference, according to UN and diplomatic sources.

An official statement issued here on Sunday said that Pakistan would hold an international conference later this month to mark four decades of the presence of Afghan refugees in the country, Dawn news reported.

The two-day conference - "40 years of Afghan Refugees Presence in Pakistan: A New Partnership for Solidarity" - would be held in Islamabad on February 17-18.

Prime Minister Imran Khan will inaugurate the conference, which will bring participants from 20 countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Since the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is co-hosting the conference, the Secretary General and other key UN officials will also participate, the sources in New York told Dawn news.

Besides the UN, multilateral development banks, international refugee agencies, and major non-governmental organisations are also sending their representatives.

"The conference will be held at an important juncture as efforts to consolidate peace in Afghanistan are making progress," a Foreign Office spokesperson told reporters in Islamabad.

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