Int’l engagement with Afghanistan crucial to avert civil war, Qureshi tells Troika Plus meeting

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Thursday that it was crucial for the international community to avoid repeating mistakes of the past and pursue positive engagements in order to avert economic collapse or an all-out civil war from breaking out in Afghanistan,.

Addressing the opening session of the two-day meeting of Troika Plus — comprising US, Russia, China and Pakistan — held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the foreign minister said engagement with Afghanistan was important as nobody wished to see a relapse into civil war and an economic collapse to spur instability.

“Everyone wants terrorist elements operating inside Afghanistan to be tackled effectively and we all want to prevent a new refugee crisis,” he said.

He said peace in Afghanistan was not only important for Pakistan, but for the rest of the world as well.

The foreign minister said that Afghanistan stood at the brink of economic collapse today and with international funding dried up, it had become difficult to even pay salaries, let alone pursue development projects.

He said people were reeling under the effects of a severe drought, adding that any further downward slide would severely limit the new administration’s capacity to run the government.

“It is, therefore, imperative for the international community to buttress the provision of humanitarian assistance on an urgent basis,” he stressed, adding that the sectors of health, education and municipal services required urgent attention.

The foreign minister said enabling Afghanistan to access its frozen funds would dovetail into the efforts to regenerate economic activities and move the Afghan economy towards stability and sustainability.

Similarly, he said, the UN and its agencies must be urged to find ways to reach out to the common Afghan and help stabilise the situation.

Qureshi said being an immediate neighbour, Pakistan had a direct stake in Afghanistan’s peace and stability.

With a shared heritage and history, we consider every ethnic community of Afghanistan important in the final destiny of the country, he said.

He mentioned that Pakistan had already taken a number of steps to facilitate people in Afghanistan.

“These include waiver of customs duties on perishable food items to support farmers in Afghanistan, provision of humanitarian assistance, facilitating pedestrian movement, keeping the border open during Covid-19 and visa on arrival for medical cases.”

He recalled that during his visit to Kabul last month, he had endeavoured to understand the new Afghan government’s expectations from the international community.

“It also provided us the opportunity to share our assessment with the Taliban leadership and highlight the international community’s expectations of them,” he said.

“We believe Taliban are interested in engagement, as they seek international acceptance and support,” he added.

The meeting was attended by Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Afghanistan Mansoor Ahmad Khan, Pakistan’s Special Representative to Afghanistan Muhammad Sadiq, US State Department’s Special Representative and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Afghanistan Thomas West, Russia’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov and China’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Yao Jing.