Qureshi warns dire humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is looking forward to welcoming the foreign ministers to Islamabad for the 17th Extraordinary Session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers on Afghanistan on December 19, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Tuesday. The foreign minister, in a tweet, extended a welcome to the foreign ministers of OIC states who will be arriving in Pakistan for the upcoming meeting. Pakistan is in high gear to host the foreign ministers of the OIC countries, with preparations underway in the capital ahead of the main event of December 19.
Later while speaking at the Margalla Dialogue Forum 2021 – Foreign Policy Challenges of the Future in a Changing Geopolitical Landscape, here Foreign Minister Qureshi said Tuesday that with the current escalation of strategic competition among global powers undermining world peace and making diplomacy unpredictable, Pakistan has shifted its focus from geopolitics to geoeconomics. “This has made economic diplomacy all the more important,” he said. In his address, the FM spoke at length on various issues concerning Pakistan’s foreign policy and diplomacy, including the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, bilateral relations with China, the United States, Russia, and India, as well as the importance of a just resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute for regional peace.
“Indeed, we live in a time of uncertainty. The world order seems to be in a state of severe stress and disarray. In these times, foreign policy and geopolitics are largely linked to geoeconomics. From here on, the economy is in many ways our strategic compass, with a dominant presence as a priority of foreign policy,” he remarked. The FM said that positioning Pakistan as a geoeconomic centre with unparalleled regional connectivity has to come as a mindset from the top down. “We have had to reset the existing geopolitical mindset and embrace the importance of geoeconomics,” he added. The Foreign Minister said that as Pakistan was the fifth most populous nation, with 220 million people, some 64% of its population was below the age of 30, and according to estimates by Forbes and UNDP, approximately 80 million were middle class.
Foreign Minister Qureshi warned that a dire humanitarian crisis looming in Afghanistan has consequences for the region and beyond. He said Pakistan is hosting an extraordinary session of the OIC on Sunday to mobilize support for providing adequate food, medicine and housing to millions of Afghans in dire distress. He said Pakistan continues to work at every level for a stable, peaceful and prosperous regional future. He mentioned the role played by Pakistan in facilitating Afghan peace talks and the evacuations of foreign nationals from Afghanistan.
He said Pakistan has been working closely with the international partners for humanitarian outreach and bringing together neighboring countries of Afghanistan and international stakeholders for a coordinated approach. Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Pakistan has advocated and worked for the establishment of an inclusive polity in Afghanistan, respecting the rights of all ethnic and religious minorities as well as of women.
He said the Afghan Government has assured all its neighbours that their soil will not be allowed to be used for terrorism. The same message has been given by Kabul to extra-regional powers. Referring to the Indian atrocities in Illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the Foreign Minister said it is the duty of the United Nations and the international community to hold India accountable for this unconscionable state of affairs. He said India must realize that without resolving Kashmir dispute, we cannot free the peoples of South Asia from perennial instability.
As regards relationship with the US, the Foreign minister said Pakistan wants multifaceted ties that are not susceptible to the vagaries of regional and international policies. He said in line with Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision for a shift from geopolitics to geo-economics, we want a relationship with the US that is in sync with our changed priority. He said enhanced trade and investment ties with the US and cooperation with regards to regional connectivity can work to our mutual benefit. Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that Pakistan Russia relations are contributing to stability in the region and we will continue to strengthen them.