Islamabad, Nov 10, (Asia Free Press): Afghanistan’s interim foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, arrived in Islamabad today on his first visit to Pakistan to discuss ways to facilitate transit trade, cross-border movement and support for the people of Afghanistan who urgently await humanitarian assistance, according to state run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP).
Pakistan has extended humanitarian and economic assistance to the Afghan people and has also urged the international community to urgently extend support to alleviate the suffering of its people
US has frozen the $ 9.5 billion of the Afghan Central Bank and it has become extremely hard for the new government to feed, provide shelter and healthcare for its people.
The Afghan Foreign Minister will be participating in a meeting of the Troika plus on Afghanistan, on Thursday.
The important meeting will be attended by Special Representatives and Envoys for Afghanistan from China, Russian Federation, United States and Pakistan, a statement from the Foreign Office said.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi would inaugurate the meeting, which would discuss in detail the situation in Afghanistan and the way forward.
“Pakistan attaches high importance to the Troika Plus mechanism on the situation in Afghanistan. Pakistan hopes that deliberations of the Troika Plus meeting would contribute to the ongoing efforts for achieving lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan,” the Foreign Office said.
India on Wednesday held a Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan that was attended by National Security Advisers and Secretaries of the National Security Councils of India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan was not invited.
National Security Adviser of Pakistan Moeed Yusuf declined to attend the meeting saying “peace spoiler cannot be a peacemaker”, in an oblique reference to what India has done in Afghanistan over the past two decades and how it used its soil to carry out subversive activities against Pakistan.
China, has also declined participation citing “scheduling difficulties” issues.
Pakistan, has reiterated that the looming humanitarian crisis is its top priority which has also been pointed out by international aid agencies.
