United Nations, July 20: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is heading for Kabul to take part in a major international meet Tuesday at which he will call on Afghans to unite in the interest of peace and development in their country, his spokesperson said here Monday.
The International Conference on Afghanistan, also known as the Kabul Conference, will be co-chaired by Ban and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai. It is the first international conference on Afghanistan to be held in the country and organised by the Afghan government.
The secretary-general “will appeal to the Afghan people to come together to achieve peace through reconciliation and build a future based on economic development and mutual cooperation, with full respect for their nation’s sovereignty,” Martin Nesirky was quoted as saying by Xinhua.
While in Kabul, the secretary-general will also meet with Karzai and senior officials from the over 70 countries expected to attend the conference.
Tuesday’s meeting follows the London Conference held in January, during which the Afghan government and its international partners jointly endorsed a strategy of transition to greater Afghan responsibility for the affairs of the country.
–IANS–