ISLAMABAD, April 14: The new special representative of the UN Secretary-General for Afghanistan Tom Koenig on Friday expressed appreciation of Pakistan’s contribution towards Afghanistan’s security and economic reconstruction.

Mr Koenig conveyed these sentiments during his meeting with President General Pervez Musharraf at the Aiwan-i-Sadr during the day.

He informed the president that a joint coordination and monitoring board was being set up with 21 UN member-states, including Pakistan, to oversee and to facilitate the objectives of the Afghanistan Compact arrived at the recent international conference on Afghanistan in London and endorsed by the UN Security Council, a Foreign Office statement said. The inaugural meeting of the board would be held in Kabul at the end of this month.

The president reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to Afghanistan’s stability. In specifically mentioned the deployment of more than 80,000 Pakistani troops on the international border with Afghanistan and other steps taken by the government to stop cross border infiltration in either direction.

Underlining the importance Pakistan attached to Afghanistan’s reconstruction through bilateral channels and in cooperation with the international community, particularly in the context of the recently concluded Afghanistan Compact, the president told the visiting United Nations envoy that despite limited resources, Pakistan had committed $250 million for Afghanistan’s reconstruction.—Q.A.