ISLAMABAD: Pakistan convened a virtual meeting of regional foreign ministers on Wednesday to discuss the situation in Afghanistan and provide an opportunity to the neighboring countries to develop a “coordinated approach” toward the war-battered country, the foreign office said.
The meeting took place a day after the Taliban announced their interim administration in which all key positions were offered to the movement’s veteran leaders.
The Taliban had pledged to form a more “inclusive” government to address a key concern of the international community after capturing Kabul on August 15.
Discussing the Afghanistan situation with his counterparts from China, Iran, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the region was “grappling with a changed reality in Afghanistan.”
“Our deliberations today would help us carry forward our collective thinking on coordinated approach to the mired aspects of the situation in Afghanistan,” he said, adding that Pakistan wanted to transform the forum of neighboring countries into a regular consultative platform.
“I also suggest that we may give consideration to the idea to invite Afghanistan in future,” he added. “Participation of Afghanistan will augment this forum’s effectiveness,” the foreign minister said.
Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi (center) hosts a virtual meeting of regional foreign ministers in Islamabad, Pakistan, on September 8, 2021. (Photo courtesy: @SMQureshiPTI/Twitter)
Pakistan hosted a similar conference on Sunday in which special representatives of Afghanistan’s neighboring states huddled together to review the recent developments in Kabul.
Ambassador Mohammad Sadiq, who chaired the previous meeting, said in a Twitter post that the participants were unanimous that peace in Afghanistan was vital for the security, stability and prosperity of the entire region.
The foreign office also said in a recent statement that Afghanistan’s neighbors had a vital stake in the stability of that country.
“A peaceful, stable, united, sovereign and prosperous Afghanistan will contribute toward transit trade, people-to-people exchanges and security in the region,” it said.
