Visiting President-elect of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly Volkan Bozkir said on Monday that the regional security in South Asia should be maintained through political and diplomatic means.

Bozkir, a veteran Turkish diplomat, was elected president of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly in June 2020.

Bozkir was speaking at a joint press conference in the Pakistani capital Islamabad with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi after they held formal talks. Earlier, Bozkir also called on Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan during his two-day visit from Sunday.

"Difficult challenges can be resolved peacefully through meaningful mutual engagements," Bozkir said while responding to questions about the conflicts in the region.

"If my assistance is requested by the parties, I will be ready to provide contributions," Bozkir said when journalists drew his attention towards the disputes between Pakistan and India, and their tension over the Kashmir issue.

Bozkir said Pakistan is a key country at the United Nations, which makes extensive and substantial contributions to the world body's work including peacekeeping operations, adding the United Nations looks forward to closer cooperation with Pakistan.

He said the world is currently faced with many challenges including humanitarian issue, deadly conflicts and the unprecedented health challenge of COVID-19.

"Pakistan has been a good example for the world, which handled the (COVID-19) pandemic-related policies very well and figures show Pakistan has done better than many other countries in the world," Bozkir said.

Speaking on the occasion, Qureshi said Pakistan strongly believes in the importance of a multilateral world anchored on the basis of peace, progress and stability.

"It is in this spirit, we welcome the president-elect of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly Volkan Bozkir to Pakistan for a constructive and fruitful visit. Pakistan has consistently supported and valued the UN's significant role in global affairs and we will continue to strengthen bonds within the institution of the UN be it for conflict resolution, peacekeeping, sustainable development, health, economic and social cooperation," Qureshi said.

The Pakistani foreign minister said he briefed Bozkir about the role played by Pakistan in pushing forward the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan, the challenges that lie ahead and the recent positive developments.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister Office of Pakistan said Imran Khan apprised Bozkir of Pakistan's initiatives to mitigate and suppress the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on saving lives, securing livelihoods, and stimulating the economy.

The prime minister further highlighted his call for global initiative on debt relief and stressed the need to provide greater fiscal space to the developing countries to overcome deleterious socio-economic impacts of the pandemic.