PM Imran to visit China on February 3: Foreign Office

Prime Minister Imran Khan will visit China on February 3, the Foreign Office (FO) announced on Thursday.

In his weekly press briefing, FO Spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said that the PM is visiting the neighbouring country on Chinese President Xi Jinping's invitation for Winter Olympics.

Meanwhile, the FO spokesperson termed the Joint Statement by the P-5 on Preventing Nuclear War and Avoiding Arms Races as a positive development. The P-5 statement rightly acknowledges the imperative of creating conducive security environment for meaningful progress on nuclear disarmament, he said.

"This will include addressing the underlying security concerns of States, pacific settlement of outstanding disputes, and cessation of destabilising arms build ups that accentuate asymmetries."

On Afghanistan, Ahmad said Pakistan continues to closely follow the situation in Afghanistan, adding that it welcomes the UN's call for aid in Kabul.

UN wants $5bn aid for Afghanistan in 2022

The United Nations said Tuesday it needed $5 billion in aid for Afghanistan in 2022 to avert a humanitarian catastrophe and offer the ravaged country a future after 40 years of suffering.

In its biggest-ever single-country appeal, the UN said $4.4 billion (3.9 billion euros) was needed within Afghanistan, while a further $623 million was required to support the millions of Afghans sheltering beyond its borders.

The UN said 22 million people inside Afghanistan and a further 5.7 million displaced Afghans in five neighbouring countries needed vital relief this year.

Meanwhile, the White House announced earlier this week that the Biden administration plans to donate $308 million in humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, bringing total US aid for the impoverished country and Afghan refugees in the region to nearly $782 million since October.