Too early to recognize Taliban, says Pakistan ahead of OIC session on Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD: The stage to recognize the Afghan Taliban government “has not yet arrived,” Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said ahead of a special session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation organized by Islamabad as Afghanistan faces an imminent economic slowdown and humanitarian devastation. Has been doing. ,
The statement from the Pakistani government, which will host the 17th extraordinary session of the OIC’s Council of Foreign Ministers on Sunday, will be a blow to the Afghan Taliban, who have argued for months that the failure to recognize their government will be prolonged. Financial and humanitarian crisis, which may eventually turn into a world class problem.
The new Taliban administration in Kabul has been accepted by the international community since its takeover by the insurgents in mid-August, which saw an abrupt end to the financial aid from the US and other donors on which Afghanistan became dependent during the 20 years of the war. The country’s hard currency assets worth more than $9 billion were also frozen after the Taliban came under control.
But the world waits before giving any formal recognition to the new rulers in Kabul, wary that the Taliban could impose a similarly harsh regime when they were in power 20 years ago – despite their assurances to the contrary.
Backland
• A new Taliban administration in Kabul has been approved by the international community since the rebels took over in mid-August.
• After the Taliban came under control, the country’s hard currency assets worth more than $ 9 billion were also confiscated.
“This phase has not come yet. I don’t think there is any international appetite for recognition at this stage,” Qureshi told Arab News in an exclusive interview on Friday. “The international community has many expectations.”
These include assurances around an inclusive government and human rights in Afghanistan, especially for minorities, women and girls, whose roles were strictly reduced by the Taliban when they ruled the country from 1996 until they were taken over in 2001. was repelled by the US-led invasion.
Qureshi said he told Taliban leaders that the international community expects him to work on four issues: “They want you to have an inclusive political landscape. They want you to respect human rights, especially the rights of women. They want you not to give space to international terrorist organizations like Al-Qaeda and Daesh. And they want safer routes for those who want to leave.”
Speaking about Sunday’s OIC summit, Qureshi said he was “delighted” to facilitate a meeting between Afghanistan’s acting foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaki, and US Special Representative for Afghanistan Tom West, both meeting are participating in.
In addition to foreign ministers from Islamic countries, delegations from the European Union and the UN Security Council’s P5+1 group, which also includes the US,
Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany are also invited.
“I think this (summit) through the OIC Conference of Foreign Ministers can provide an opportunity for the international community to hear what they (Afghan Taliban) have to say,” Qureshi said. “I hope to draw the attention of the international community to all the situations in Afghanistan through the OIC Forum. The ensuing international crisis is brewing.”
Afghanistan’s financial crunch, currency crashing and prices skyrocketing, have forced Afghans to sell their household items to raise money for food and other essentials.
The United Nations is warning that some 23 million people – about 55 percent of the population – face extreme levels of hunger, with 9 million at risk of famine, as winters take hold in the poor, landlocked country .
Qureshi said that economic stability and peace in Afghanistan is not just a domestic or regional issue, but an issue that will pose challenges for Western countries if left unattended. Top of the list of concerns is the mass exodus of economic migrants.
“If things go wrong, I see a new influx of refugees. And most of these refugees will be economic migrants,” said the foreign minister. “Those economic migrants would not want to live in Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan or Turkmenistan. They will travel across Europe.” “Europe has to look into that,” he said, “and the best you have is to make sure there is peace and stability in Afghanistan.”
,