Earlier I had asked about why the UN Secretary General had last visited Afghanistan, in 1959. The question has been deleted by the board update, but I’ve been patiently waiting to post the answer.
It appears to have been routine hobnobbing. I rang up the United Nations, who were able to dig up a couple press releases. I extracted the following info out of the respective releases named.
From 24 February 1959 (SG/786)
*March
2-4 Karachi
5-7 Rangoon
7-9 Bangkok
9-11 Vientiane
13-14 Kuala Lumpur
15 Bangkok
16-18 Katmandu
18-20 New Delhi
20-22 Srinagar (HQ of UNMOGIP)
22-24 Kabul
24-27 Moscow
28 Return to New York
*UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan
25 March 1959 (SG/802)
While in Kabul he met the Foreign Minister Sardar Mohammad Naim, Prime Minister Sardar Mohammad Daoud, King Mohammad Zahir, and several lesser officials. Before leaving for Moscow via New Delhi, he stopped by the Pakistan embassy for their National Day celebration.
I had only ever heard of Daoud and Zahir, but the “Sardar Mohammad” present in each of the first two names makes me suspicious.