ISLAMABAD: Yukiya Amano, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is scheduled to arrive in Pakistan on Monday (today) on a three-day official visit.

Mr Amano will visit various centres and facilities of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) in Islamabad, Faisalabad and Karachi. He will also call on Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

As a founding member of the agency, Pakistan has good relations with the IAEA in areas like nuclear power, industrial application of nuclear techniques, non-destructive testing, soil improvement, radiation induced mutation, radiation oncology and nuclear medicines, environmental protection and isotope hydrology, according to a press release issued on Sunday.

Widely known as the world’s ‘nuclear watchdog’ within the United Nations family, the IAEA works with its member states and multiple partners worldwide to promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology.

Mr Amano’s visit to Pak­istan is being seen as a vital one for the country because many new avenues of cooperation will be explored during the trip.

Published in Dawn, March 12th, 2018