“Germany, Japan, Canada and Australia have also been invited to help develop an international consensus on bringing Afghanistan out of crisis,” he had said. The foreign minister had said the coming extraordinary session of the OIC was being held in Pakistan after a gap of 41 years, for which the special representatives of P5 countries, vice-president of European Union, and representatives of relevant UN agencies and the World Bank had also been invited. He had added that the conference would help mobilise resources to support Afghanistan. The summitĪ formal announcement for the OIC moot was made by Foreign Minister Qureshi on December 4, who had said that the purpose of the summit was to avert a humanitarian crisis rearing its head in Afghanistan following the US withdrawal.Īddressing a press conference, he had said the session would draw world leaders’ attention towards the fact that a lack of prompt response would lead to food shortages for some 22.8 million people and affect about 3.2m children with malnutrition in Afghanistan. He added that Pakistan had also constituted a platform comprising six countries from the region, and its first virtual meeting would be held in Islamabad, second in Iran and third in Beijing.
#Khalid taha plus#
Qureshi announced that a meeting of Troika Plus - comprising Pakistan, China, Russia and the United States - P5 countries and Germany, Japan, Italy and Australia would also be held in Islamabad to discuss the Afghan situation. "We are expecting some financial support from OIC member states," he added. He added that the Afghan government was ready to reopen schools in the country but lacked resources to pay salaries to its employees. "Why should Afghan women and children suffer?" he remarked. In this regard, he highlighted that 75 per cent of Afghanistan's budgetary requirements were met via external support and now that Afghan assets had been frozen, the world needed to revisit its approach. Qureshi said Pakistan was playing its role in providing assistance to Afghanistan and urged other countries to do the same. He further stated that in case of a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, the country's neighbours, including Pakistan, and European Union states would have to prepare for another influx of refugees. The foreign minister said the world must not abandon Afghanistan, warning that if a humanitarian crisis was not averted in the war-torn country, its economy would collapse. Later, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told media persons in Islamabad that 90 delegates invited to the summit had reached Islamabad and more were expected tomorrow.Īmong those who had arrived in Islamabad was Islamic Development Bank (IDB) President Dr Mohammed bin Sulaiman Al Jasser, who was welcomed by the FO.įoreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi interacts with media persons in Islamabad on Friday. The delegates were received by Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan Nawaf bin Said Al Malki and senior officials from the Foreign Office (FO). The moot was proposed by Saudi Arabia last month, following which Pakistan had welcomed the move and offered to host the session.Ī delegation comprising Saudi Arabia's Afghan affairs department head Prince Abdullah bin Khalid bin Saud al-Kabir and Prince Jiluwi bin Turki arrived in Islamabad on Friday morning. Saudi delegates reached Islamabad on Friday to attend an extraordinary session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers, scheduled to take place on December 19, to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.