Dubai, 13 September 2021 (TDI): In an article on Khaleej Times, Foreign Minister (FM) Pakistan Shah Mehmood Qureshi, stated that now Afghanistan lies at a critical juncture where the vicious cycles of conflict can be ended or it can descend further into chaos. He wrote that Pakistan has suffered a lot due to the Afghan crisis including 80,000 causalities and an economic loss of $150 billion. The country still hosts 4 million Afghan refugees. A peaceful and stable Afghanistan is necessary not only for Pakistan but also for regional and international stability and security.
The FM Qureshi stated that Pakistan has tried its best to bring a ‘negotiated end to forever war’. He reiterated that Pakistan has played its due role and has reached out to Afghan factions and western countries to bring peace to the country.
Moreover, he urged the international community not to repeat the mistakes of the past. He addressed that we should work together to avert a humanitarian and economic crisis in Afghanistan. Furthermore, he called the international players to genuinely play their role in intra-Afghan reconciliation. In this way, Afghanistan will transform from a ‘fractured and maladministered entity’ to ‘a responsible actor’ of the international community.
Furthermore, he encouraged the new dispensation in Afghanistan to create a polity based on inclusivity; where no one feels threatened because of its ethnicity or gender.
