ISLAMABAD, Aug 23 (APP):Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mehmood Qureshi Monday said Pakistan was working for an inclusive broad based arrangement in Afghanistan to further peace and stability in the neighbouring country.
Addressing a press conference here, he said the views of the international community were in sync with thinking of Pakistan on the present situation in Afghanistan.
Qureshi said he held conversations with a number of foreign ministers in previous days and they acknowledged that Pakistan was playing a vital and critical role in these challenging times.
The world was looking towards Pakistan and it wanted help in evacuating their nationals from Afghanistan, he said adding very few embassies were working in Kabul and Pakistani embassy was one of them.
“We are keeping an eye on the situation in Afghanistan,” he said adding the international community wanted Pakistan to promote an inclusive arrangement in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan had a number of ethnic groups which had a role to play, he explained.
In recent days foreign minister Qureshi had talked to the high representative of European Union, foreign ministers of Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Secretary of State of United States Antony Blinken, Secretary General Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) about the situation in Afghanistan.
The foreign minister said Saudi Arabia had expressed interest in shifting its embassy staff from Kabul to Islamabad for the time being and Pakistan would facilitate the transfer.
He said the foreign ministers in their interactions were appreciative of the role played by Pakistan in helping evacuation of its nationals.
Pakistan facilitated the evacuation of diplomats, embassy staff and members of international organizations and media based in Kabul, he added.
Qureshi said Pakistani embassy was working in Kabul round-the-clock and the ambassador and his team were doing a great job in a difficult situation.
Pakistan shifted its staff of consulates to Kabul to facilitate in undertaking the gigantic task
of evacuation and visas were being given to the applicants. Because of paucity of time, 409 people were put on the planes and visas were given on arrival in Islamabad, he informed.
He further said Pakistan’s ambassador in Afghanistan was constantly in touch with the local authorities ensuring safety and safe transportation of people to the Kabul airport.
Qureshi said the situation in Kabul was calm but there was pressure around the airport and thousands of people who were desirous of leaving, were stranded at the airport, which was focus of attention of the international media.
However, rest of the Kabul city was functioning and almost normal, the minister said adding, “We have set up an evacuation operation cell since August 15, and all stakeholders including officials from the ministries of foreign affairs, interior, civil aviation and security agencies were manning the cell round-the-clock, managing departures, arrivals, boarding and lodging of people.”
The aim of the cell was to give a quick response and to accelerate inter-ministerial coordination to facilitate the people leaving Afghanistan through land and airport, he mentioned.
The cell managed five flights of Pakistan International Airlines between Islamabad and Kabul and evacuated 542 foreign nationals and 92 Pakistanis.
Qureshi said the Pakistan government gave permission for overflights and allowed use of its airspace 56 times so far.
“It is not a blanket permission but we entertained all requests and allowed 133 sorties of 17 airlines and nationals of 28 countries benefited from this facility. About 293 officials of World Bank were facilitated.”
So far evacuation of 3,234 foreign nationals and 323 Pakistanis was facilitated, he said and assured the international community that Pakistan as a responsible country and as a partner in peace would continue to be supportive of the efforts of the international community for peace and stability in Afghanistan.
The foreign minister would undertake visits to Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Iran to hold parleys on the situation in Afghanistan.
He had already held a detailed discussion with the Chinese foreign minister about events in Afghanistan.
The minister was of the view that the immediate scare of huge exodus from Afghanistan had subsided.
He stressed that the situation in Afghanistan was challenging and Pakistan which was going through the fourth wave of COVID-19 was looking at the situation with regard to trade, check points and other issues.
“When Afghanistan will be peaceful and stable, we can benefit from the economic and trade opportunities.”
He explained that Pakistan would work with a regional approach saying it was shared responsibility of immediate neighbours to play role and promote stability in Afghanistan.
To a question, he said Taliban had stated that they would not allow use of their soil for terrorism against others.
To a question regarding Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), he said, “Our concerns regarding the entity are genuine and our expectations are natural.”
The TTP should give up what they had been doing, he said adding the leadership which would evolve in Afghanistan should keep an eye on the activities of the terrorist organizations.
“We do not want Afghanistan to become a safe haven for terrorists.”
He said people of TTP were wanted as they were involved in terrorist activities and they targeted innocent citizens.
Responding to a question, he said former Afghan president Ashraf Ghani was in the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan wanted that the vacuum should be filled and Afghanistan should move towards peace and stability.
Different groups in Afghanistan were in negotiations with each other and Taliban were talking to Dr Abdullah Abdullah, Hamid Karzai and others, he pointed out.
The minister hoped that the uncertainty would end and Afghanistan would move towards permanent peace.
Talking about Taliban, he said if one looked at the statements of Taliban, they seemed serious, they had announced general amnesty, they expressed the view that they did not intend to take revenge from anybody and they would not allow use of their land for terrorism and cultivation of poppy crops.
The international community was in touch with the Taliban and if the engagement continued the situation could improve, he opined.
He was of the view that the transition in Afghanistan should be smooth as its people had paid a heavy price in decades of war.
Talking about India, he said “We are telling the international community that there are spoilers and we want India to stop its past practices.”
He said India was inciting the situation in Afghanistan and asked its media to act responsibly.
India should think that if the situation improved and trade and connectivity grew it would also benefit it, he continued.
He said he had four telephonic conversations with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and special representative of the United States on Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, adding the United States and Pakistan had shared objectives in the region.
The foreign minister said Pakistan supported the United States viewpoint that the Trump administration had decided to drawdown the troops in Afghanistan and after review the Biden administration went along with the decision to withdraw the troops from the country.
Foreign Minister Qureshi said the situation of Panjshir was a test for the leadership of Afghanistan.
Afghanistan could not afford more chaos and he was hopeful that Afghan leadership would settle the situation, he concluded.