LAHORE: Pakistan on Saturday announced to host an ‘extraordinary’ session of foreign ministers from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) as well as representatives of the powerful countries on December 19 in a bid to avert a humanitarian crisis and economic collapse in war-torn Afghanistan.
In view of the serious humanitarian situation in #Afghanistan, #Pakistan will host the Extraordinary Session of @OIC_OCI Council of Foreign Ministers on #Afghanistan on 19 Dec, in support of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s convening of the meeting as #OIC Summit Chair. #OICinPakistan
— Shah Mahmood Qureshi (@SMQureshiPTI) December 4, 2021
“If we don’t pay timely attention, half of Afghanistan’s population or 22.8 million people can face food shortage and 3.2 million children may face malnutrition,” Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi announced at a news conference in Lahore.
Invitation is being sent to the Taliban interim government while permanent members of UN Security Council, representatives of European Union, World Bank as well as other international financial institutions would also be requested to join moot in Islamabad.
The Foreign Minister told reporters that representatives of countries including Germany, Japan and others would also be invited. The December 19 meeting in Islamabad would be the largest international gathering on Afghanistan since Kabul fell to the Afghan Taliban on August 15.
Speaking at the press conference, FM Qureshi said the purpose of the extraordinary meeting of OIC foreign ministers, which is taking place after the gap of 20-year war in Afghanistan, was to discuss the current humanitarian and economic situation in the country.
He said considering the gravity of the situation, Pakistan made an effort and moved ahead to host the international event realizing that, if not addressed timely, the situation would have dire consequences for Afghanistan, its neighbors as well as the whole region.
Qureshi pointed out that the country could face an economic collapse if the frozen assets were not released to cope with the burgeoning needs. “The idea of holding the session on Afghanistan emerged during the meeting between Prime Minister Imran Khan and Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman in Riyadh on the sideline of the Green Summit,” he revealed.
He said it was agreed that abandoning Afghanistan would be a historic blunder and the world should learn from the past instead of repeating the same mistake.
The foreign minister also told the media that on December 7, he would meet EU High Representative and EU parliamentarians in Brussels to sensitize them on the Afghanistan situation.
He said after the withdrawal of troops and the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, India launched a campaign to sanction Pakistan blaming the country for the situation. However, he said, due to its effective foreign policy, Pakistan thwarted all such Indian designs.
He said in collaboration with China, a platform of six neighboring countries was also formed to discuss the situation and also explore opportunities after the revival of peace in Afghanistan.
The foreign minister said Pakistan was already assisting Afghan people by dispatching medicines, 50,000 tons of wheat and other relief items. “Moreover, India was also allowed to transport wheat through Pakistan, though the country was still putting one after the other excuses to materialize the commitment,” he added.
Talking about situation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the foreign minister said the government raised the issue at every world platform and also led to the UNSC discussing it thrice contrary to the Indian stance of calling it an internal matter.
He told the media that on Friday evening, he spoke to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussed bilateral relations. He assured that despite all tactics by the subversive elements, no CPEC project would be suspended.
