ISLAMABAD: Pakistan once again warned the international community against abandoning Afghanistan, which is currently facing a humanitarian crisis and needs urgent assistance to survive.

Speaking at the Ministerial Meeting of the Neighbours of Afghanistan in Samarkand on Thursday, Minister of State Hina Rabbani Khar called for ‘patience’ and ‘reciprocity’, saying that the international community should continue to engage with the interim Afghan government. “We need to be flexible. This process should be appropriately incentivised,” she suggested.

She said Pakistan firmly believed that humanitarian support should remain delinked from any political considerations.

She mentioned Kabul’s decision to suspend education for women and girls and to prevent female staff members from working for national and international NGOs.

Says Pakistan believes aid should be delinked from political considerations

The minister regretted that some of the policies and actions of the interim Afghan government didn’t provide an incentive for engagement.

Ms Khar said people were questioning the utility of engaging with the interim Afghan government as she called these approaches “misplaced and need to be re-assessed”.

“The international community currently finds itself at a standstill with Afghanistan. The cascade of unmet expectations has meant that critical support needed by Afghanistan to stave off a grave humanitarian crisis, prevent an economic meltdown and combat terrorism has been withheld”, she said.

“We cannot talk of the Afghan people without talking to them. Constructive engagement with the Interim Afghan Government remains imperative. As friends and neighbours, we don’t have the luxury to disengage with Afghanistan”, she said.

Noting that connectivity has remained a pipe dream for far too long, Ms Khar advocated for turning this ‘constraint’ into a conduit for regional peace and prosperity.

Connectivity projects such as CASA-1000, Trans-Afghan Railways, TAPI and others, were not merely economic undertakings, they were strategic investments for a shared future, the minister noted.

Meetings

On the sidelines of the conference, Ms Khar met with the foreign ministers of China, Russia and Iran.

During her meeting with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Amb Qin Gang, the two sides reaffirmed the commitment to peace and stability in Afghanistan.

In her meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the two sides agreed to further bilateral cooperation in trade, investment, energy and food security.

During her meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the two sides discussed bilateral trade and economic cooperation. They expressed satisfaction over the progress of the Polan-Gabd/Gwadar electricity transmission line that will cater to the energy needs of the border regions of the two countries.

She also met with the foreign ministers of Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Published in Dawn, April 14th, 2023