Sept 23, 2021: Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi urges patience on part of the global community in interview with The Associated Press.
Be realistic. Be patient. Engage. And most of all, don’t isolate. These are pillars of a vision to deal with the emerging Taliban government in Pakistan that is once again in power in Afghanistan, Pakistan’s neighbour.
The Pakistani government is proposing that the international community draw up a roadmap that would give the Taliban a diplomatic identity with concessions if they meet requirements and then sit face to face with the group’s leaders.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi made the remarks in an interview with the Associated Press on Wednesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. “If they meet these expectations, they will make things easier for themselves, they will have acceptance, which is essential for recognition,” Qureshi told the AP.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that Pakistan is in tune with the international community, wants to see a peaceful and stable Afghanistan in which there is no room for terrorist elements to step in and the Taliban to ensure that Afghan territory is re-occupied by any country.
He urged the world to accept the new reality in Afghanistan and said the international community needs to come up with fresh ideas on how to engage with the Taliban regime. He said the age old isolation policy against the Taliban hasn’t worked now and will not work now.
Qureshi said expectations from the Taliban leadership could include a comprehensive government and assurance of human rights, especially for women and girls. In return, he said, the Afghan government could encourage development, economic and reconstruction aid to help it recover from decades of war.
He urged the US, the International Monetary Fund and other countries that have frozen Afghan government funds to release the money immediately so that it can be used for “normal development in Afghanistan.”
He pledged that Pakistan was ready to play a “constructive, positive” role in opening up communication channels with the Taliban, as it also benefits peace and stability.
Pakistan, which shares a long border with Afghanistan, has long and sometimes contentious relations with its neighbor, including efforts to curb terrorism there.
Advocating a calibrated approach, he said, “It has to be a realistic assessment, a pragmatic view on both sides, and that will set the tone for recognition eventually.”
He also expressed hope for an Afghanistan where the rights of women and girls are respected, an Afghanistan that is not a haven for terrorism, an Afghanistan where a comprehensive government representing different sectors of the population.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that there are various forums where the international community can work in the best way to deal with the situation. In the meantime, he insisted, things seemed to be working out.
Less than six weeks after the Taliban took power on August 15, he said, Pakistan has been informed that the law and order situation has improved, fighting has stopped and many internally displaced Afghans have fled their homes. are going to.
He said Pakistan has not seen a new influx of Afghan refugees – a sensitive issue for Pakistanis.
However, he warned against a humanitarian crisis which could evolve with a floundering economy and workers who return to jobs. Not being employed could force Afghans to cross insecure borders and flee to Pakistan, which has been embroiled in decades of conflict.
In the past, the unchecked flow of refugees across the border in to Pakistan has affected the economy of the host country. Qureshi advised patience and realism.
After all, he says, all previous attempts to stabilize Afghanistan have failed, so don’t expect new efforts towards the Taliban to achieve immediate success.
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