ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s ambassador to Afghan on Thursday met top Afghan leaders in Kabul for the first time since a government collapse in the war-torn country last week and the takeover of the capital by the Afghan Taliban.
Since capturing Kabul on Sunday, the Taliban have said they want peace and will not take revenge against old enemies. They have also been holding talks with different Afghan leaders with the aim of forming an inclusive Islamic government in Afghanistan.
On Thursday, Pakistani envoy Mansoor Ahmed Khan met former Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, Abdullah Abdullah, in Kabul.
“Had constructive discussions on efforts for lasting stability in Afghanistan,” the envoy said in a tweet.
Called on former Afghan President Hamid Karzai & Dr. Abdullah Abdullah. Had constructive discussions on efforts for lasting stability in Afghanistan @KarzaiH @DrabdullahCE @SMQureshiPTI @ForeignOfficePk @FMPublicDiploPK @PakinAfg pic.twitter.com/dXE2emFG2G
— Mansoor Ahmad Khan (@ambmansoorkhan) August 19, 2021
In a separate post, Karzai said the leaders discussed the “current situation in the country and the inclusive political process with national and international legitimacy were discussed.”
داکتر عبدالله عبدالله ریس شورای عالی مصالحه ملی و حامد کرزی ریس جمهور پیشین قبل از ظهر پنجشنبه با منصور احمد خان سفیر پاکستان ملاقات کردند.
در این ملاقات در مورد اوضاع جاری کشور و پروسه سیاسی همه شمول دارای مشروعیت ملی و بینالمللی صحبت بعمل آمد. pic.twitter.com/GxBNr4VLiM— Hamid Karzai (@KarzaiH) August 19, 2021
On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the world was contacting Pakistan for help to reach a political settlement in Afghanistan and he would soon be visiting Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan and Iran in this regard.
“I will discuss the prevailing situation in Afghanistan with its neighboring countries and consult them for a peaceful and permanent solution to the Afghan issue, besides taking them into confidence,” Qureshi said. “We want a set-up [in Afghanistan] that should be acceptable to the world.”
Pakistani Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told a press conference on Wednesday that Prime Minister Imran Khan and the foreign ministry would decide on whether Islamabad would recognize a new Taliban government in Afghanistan.
Rashid’s statement was a departure from earlier comments by Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain in which he said Islamabad would consult regional and international powers before making a decision on recognizing Taliban rule.
“Whether or not to accept the Taliban government or not, that is a decision of Imran Khan and the foreign ministry,” Ahmed said.
But the information minister had said earlier in the week that a decision on recognizing the Taliban would come after “consultation of regional and international powers.”
“We don’t want to take a unilateral decision on that, we are in touch with our regional and international friends and we will decide accordingly,” Hussain said.
