Afghanistan on the brink of economic collapse: Pakistan

Islamabad: The special envoys from Pakistan, China, Russia and the United States met in Islamabad on Thursday to discuss ways to cooperate and bail out Afghanistan from an imminent economic collapse that would directly affect the region.

At the ‘Troika Plus’ meeting, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi urged that “engagement with Afghanistan must not only continue but should be enhanced” to address common concerns.“Nobody wishes to see a relapse into civil war, no one wants an economic collapse that will spur instability; everyone wants terrorist elements operating inside Afghanistan to be tackled effectively and; we all want to prevent a new refugee crisis” he said.

In the current situation, Troika Plus has a critical role to play, he said. “We are confident that Troika Plus’s engagement with the new Afghan government will help consolidate peace and stability, promote sustainable economic development and help constrict space for terrorist outfits operating from and within Afghanistan,” Pakistan’s foreign minister said.

Foreign minister Qureshi, special envoy for Afghanistan Ambassador Mohammad Sadiq, Ambassador to Afghanistan Mansoor Khan and foreign secretary Sohail Mahmood represented Pakistan at the meeting. Chinese special envoy Yue Xiaoyong, Russia’s special envoy Zamir Kabulov and US special representative Thomas West attended the meeting.

The delegates are expected to later meet Taliban foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi who arrived in Islamabad on November 10. This will be his first meeting with the special envoys of the four countries since the interim Afghan government was established.

At the meeting, Qureshi said that “Being an immediate neighbour, Pakistan has a direct stake in Afghanistan’s peace and stability…we have borne the brunt of four decades of conflict and instability in the shape of refugees, drugs and terrorism.”

Pakistan also warned that Afghanistan stands at the “brink of an economic collapse” and urged the international community to offer assistance so people can meet their urgent basic needs. “It is crucial that the international community avoids repeating mistakes of the past and continues with positive engagement.”

Last month, Pakistan announced humanitarian aid worth Rs5 billion ($28 million) for Afghanistan after Qureshi’s visit to Kabul. Pakistan also initiated a number of steps to facilitate the common people of Afghanistan including waiver of customs duties on perishable food items, facilitating pedestrian movement via border crossings, visa on arrival for medical emergencies and keeping the border open despite COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.