UN chief lauds Pakistan's contribution to international peace and security

NEW YORK: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has praised Pakistan's important contribution to international peace and security through its over fifty years of participation in UN peacekeeping operations across the world.

Speaking at a largely-attended reception hosted in his honour by Pakistan's UN Ambassador Masood Khan at his residence, the secretary-general said almost 9,000 Pakistani uniformed personnel were serving in six missions.

"The United Nations is grateful for their contributions." Ban also lauded as "outstanding" Pakistan's presidency of the Security Council in January, noting with appreciation the holding of debates on critical themes -- counter-terrorism and peacekeeping.

He said he had very useful talks with Foreign Hina Rabbani Khar, Who presided over the counter-terrorism debate and Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani, who chaired the session on peacekeeping.

At the start of the reception, it was announced that President Asif Ali Zardari had decided to confer the high award of Hilal-e-Imtiaz on Ambassador Masood Khan for his dedicated services to the nation.

The secretary-general congratulated the ambassador on the recognition he had received from the Government of Pakistan, saying the award was well-deserved.

He called Masood Khan a "good communicator" and a "great leader of the diplomatic community here." Earlier, Masood Khan paid tributes to Ban Ki-moon's leadership of the United Nations, saying he symbolized multilateral diplomacy.

He especially thanked him for visiting Pakistan in 2010 when the country was hit by devastating floods. He also appreciated Ban's gesture of writing a personal note to Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani education activist who was shot by a Taliban militant and is now receiving treatment in England.