UNITED NATIONS: Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar held talks with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at UN Headquarters in New York on Tuesday evening, a couple of hours before her departure for Pakistan.

Khar’s meeting with the UN chief was the last engagement on the tight schedule laid-out for her 12-day visit to New York as the head of Pakistani delegation to the 66th session of UN General Assembly.

Officials said the foreign minister, who was accompanied by Pakistan UN Ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon, expressed her gratitude for the personal initiative of the Secretary-General to highlight the plight of victims of the floods in Pakistan in 2010.

Khar also appreciated the work carried out by the United Nations system in the relief and recovery of the flood affectees. She recalled that the European Parliamentary Mission report had termed the relief operation undertaken by Pakistan following 2010 floods as one of the most successful humanitarian operations.

The Foreign Minister highlighted the devastation caused by the current floods in the Sindh province and welcomed the launch of UN flash appeal amounting to $ 357 million for relief operations in the affected areas.

The Pakistan government, she said, had mobilized all national resources for the rescue and relief of affected population. However, the magnitude of devastation was beyond our resources. The Foreign Minister also briefed the UN Secretary General about Pakistan’s contribution in the ongoing fight against terrorism. She said that Pakistan had lost over 30,000 innocent civilians, 6,532 members of the armed forces and 3,629 personnel of law enforcement agencies in this fight.

She said that the Government and people of Pakistan were determined to eradicate the monster of terrorism from their country, region and the world at large. The Foreign Minister also discussed the regional situation with the Secretary-General and expressed Pakistan’s firm resolve to work with regional countries for peace and stability in the entire region.