ISLAMABAD:
On Thursday, top diplomats from China, Russia. Pakistan, and Iran gathered in Uzbekistan to discuss Afghanistan’s changing situation, citing concerns over Kabul’s interim government’s actions.
Hina Rabbani Khar, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, represented Pakistan in the second quadrilateral group meeting on Afghanistan.
The quadrilateral group also attended an Afghanistan Neighboring Countries summit in Samarkand. The acting Afghan foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, also attended the meeting. In said meeting some countries expressed worries over the Taliban’s prohibition on girls’ education and failure to combat terrorist groups.
Pakistan created the Neighboring Countries of Afghanistan mechanism in 2021 to develop a regional approach to Afghanistan.
Pakistan hosted the first meeting of neighbouring foreign ministers on September 8, 2021, and participated in the second conference in Tehran two months later. March 2022 saw the third summit in Tunxi, China.
The system will help Afghanistan’s neighbors, who are direct stakeholders, reach consensus.
“This meeting is crucial. Afghanistan suffers many interconnected problems. Khar told the gathering that 28 million people—2/3 of the population—need urgent humanitarian aid.
Moreover, Terrorism plagues Afghans daily. She noted that terrorist organisations pose a greater threat to bordering states and the region.
“We see the world moving away,” the state minister stated, closing doors on ordinary Afghans at a time when they needed the international community most.
“Growing voices, especially in the West, advocating a complete break from Afghanistan to offload its problems on the neighbourhood and to walk away,” Khar said.
“Humanitarian aid to Afghanistan will drop significantly this year. She added some question the value of engaging the interim Afghan government.
“These approaches are misplaced and need to be reassessed. Avoid forsaking Afghanistan’s people.
She expressed concern over the interim Afghan government’s policies and actions, which hurt the Afghan people.
Women Education
“Suspending education for women and girls and preventing them from working for national and international NGOs is regrettable,” she said.
“Not only that it deprives enterprising Afghan women and girls of their rightful opportunities to progress and advance, and to secure gainful employment, but also restrains the helping hand of many friends and well-wishers of Afghanistan,” she continued.
While, Pakistan dissatisfied, Khar said.
We think that education is a vital human right, as embodied in our magnificent religion and the teachings of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).
She discussed Afghanistan’s terrorist threat. “We also believe that more needs to be done to eradicate the foothold of terrorist organisations from Afghanistan without distinction and in a concerted and uniform manner,” Khar stated.
“Improved coordination with the interim Afghan government is essential. “We look forward to working closely with the neighbouring states and the international community to this end,” she added.
The quadrilateral group called for the US to lift its unilateral sanctions against Afghanistan and urged the Afghan government to create an inclusive government that protected women, children, and ethnic minorities.
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang expressed worry over the Afghan government’s recent prohibition on Afghan women working with the UN in Afghanistan at a news conference after the meeting.
Qin also told reporters that women’s rights and interests were vital but not the full problem of Afghanistan or its main cause.
He stressed that the Afghan situation required a thorough, balanced, and objective approach from the international community.
Khar met with Russian, Chinese, Iranian, and central Asian foreign ministries.
