ISLAMABAD - Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Wednesday cautioned the West of the serious consequences of abandoning Afghanistan which could result in civil war and economic collapse.
In an interview with Sky News, the foreign minister stressed upon the West to engage with Taliban because otherwise, Afghanistan could descend into another chaos. He said: “It will give space to the organisations we all dread; the international terrorist organisations that we do not want their footprint to grow in Afghanistan.”
“That’s a dangerous option. That’s an option of abandonment of Afghan people,” he said, adding such mistake was committed during 90s. Qureshi urged the international community not to repeat the same mistake again.
To a query regarding withdrawal of foreign forces, Qureshi said that there was a failure to listen to Pakistan’s concerns as the withdrawal process was not “responsible or orderly”.
Pakistan was persistently emphasising that peace and dialogue processes and withdrawal of foreign forces should be simultaneously carried out, he added.
The foreign minister termed the initial statements from the Taliban leadership as positive and encouraging, adding the West should test them to make sure they were true to their word. He expressed the hope that Taliban would act responsibly.
“They should have learned from their mistakes,” he said, adding “And I think the attitude and the approach they are taking, is reflective of a different approach.” “If they’re sensible, they should, in my view, respect international opinion and international norms,” he further added.
The minister opined that Afghans would need humanitarian and financial assistance, otherwise, there would be an economic collapse. The foreign minister to a question maintained that baseless allegations had always been leveled against Pakistan regarding Taliban.
Taliban were present in Afghanistan, they were leading Doha talks and had been in control of forty to forty-five per cent of Afghanistan prior to their takeover, he added.
Qureshi said Pakistan had been hosting millions of Afghan refugees on its soil for the last four decades.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said yesterday that evacuation from Afgahnistan had almost been completed.
Speaking at a joint news conference with Foreign Minister of the Netherlands Sigrid Kagg here after talks, he said he had briefed the Dutch counterpart over the Afghanistan situation.
“I briefed the Foreign Minister on Pakistan’s position on the situation in Afghanistan. I told her what the dangers of leaving Afghanistan alone could be,” he said.
The FM said this was the first visit of the Foreign Minister of the Netherlands to Pakistan after a long hiatus of 15 years. “We had a great conversation on the telephone before Today we discussed bilateral relations and the current situation in Afghanistan. The Netherlands is Pakistan’s second largest trading partner in the European Union,” he said.
Qureshi said the Dutch counterpart had thanked Pakistan co-operation in evacuation of their citizens from Afghanistan. “We spoke about the situation in Afghanistan as a neighboring country. We also discussed the recent four-nation tour (by FM Qureshi),” he said. The international community, he said, needed to continue supporting Afghanistan.
He added: “We are looking at the next phase that what kind of government is formed in Afghanistan, how inclusive it is and how we react to it.” Qureshi said both Pakistan and Netherlands shared convergence of views on many issues.
Speaking on the occasion, the Netherlands Foreign Minister said her country has long time been a contributor to the prospects and growth of the people of Afghanistan.
She said Netherlands generally contributes around 60 million euros as humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan through the United States or Non-Governmental Organizations and it will continue to do so in future as well.
Sigrid Kaag said her country was cognizant of the fact that humanitarian needs were growing, particularly at this time and stage.
She said the European Union will hopefully put together a new strategy on how to deal with the possible risk and continue to build a counter terrorism strategy to focus on humanitarian needs to ensure that requirements of the people of Afghanistan, women and girls, ethnic minorities, young men and women are met.
She also emphasized on finding ways to achieve the sustainable development agenda to be present and to continue to invest to avert future migration crisis.
Sigrid Kaag said that an inclusive political settlement is vital for a stable and peaceful Afghanistan She said Netherlands was also keen to invest in Pakistan to assist job growth in the country.
She appreciated Pakistan for hosting a large number of Afghan refugees for several decades. “The way Pakistan has hosted Afghan refugees for decades is commendable,” she remarked
Sigrid Kaag said the European Union foreign ministers will meet on September 3 to discuss the situation in Afghanistan and the future course of action.