ISLAMABAD, March 4: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers on Tuesday told President Gen Pervez Musharraf that arrangements were being made for voluntary repatriation of about 400,000 Afghan refugees this year.

During a meeting with the president, he said that last year about 1.5 million refugees were repatriated with the help of the UNHCR.

He said an agreement to be signed between Pakistan, Afghanistan and the UN agency in Brussels on March 17 would be a landmark.

President Musharraf said reconstruction activities in Afghanistan were very important and they would provide necessary conditions for further repatriation of refugees.

“There is a need to develop water resources in Afghanistan on the pattern of delayed action dams in Balochistan,” he said.