Islamabad: A meeting of Pakistan’s security committee chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan will be held on Monday to discuss the evolving situation in neighbouring Afghanistan, a day after the Taliban seizing power in Kabul and President Ashraf Ghani fled the war-torn country.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in a statement that Pakistan will present its stance on the current situation following consultations in the National Security Committee meeting.
Senior political and military leaders, including Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, will attend the meeting.
Another important meeting will be held with a visiting Afghan delegation at the Foreign Office.
Separately, Qureshi will also hold a meeting with Prime Minister Khan and discuss the regional situation.
The Prime Minister Khan has asked Qureshi to establish contacts with neighbouring countries of Afghanistan next week.
In another related development, Prime Minister Khan had a telephonic conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Prime Minister said that Pakistan is facilitating the evacuation of diplomatic personnel and staff of international organisations and others in Kabul, as requested.
During the telephonic conversation, the two leaders reviewed the rapidly evolving situation in Afghanistan.
Also, the Foreign Office said that Pakistan was closely following the evolving situation in Afghanistan.
It is imperative that the Afghan leaders work together to address the evolving situation and craft a way forward for sustainable peace and stability in Afghanistan, Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhry said in a statement.
He said Pakistan will continue to play its constructive role in promoting this goal.
In our view, achieving lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan and bringing an end to the four-decades long conflict is a shared responsibility of the international community, he said.
Pakistan has a direct stake for peace in Afghanistan because the security situation in the neighbouring country has a direct bearing on the security situation in this country.
The Taliban on Sunday seized the last major city outside of Kabul held by the country’s central government, cutting off the Afghan capital to the east.
‘International community must remain engaged with Kabul’
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi Monday said the international community must remain engaged with Afghanistan, asserting that Islamabad will continue to play a facilitative role to bring political settlement in the war-torn neighbouring country.
“Pakistan is very clear on our position: we believe that a negotiated political settlement is the only way forward. We do not wish to see continued cycle of civil war & want the people of Afghanistan to thrive, not simply survive,” Qureshi tweeted after a meeting here with a political delegation of Afghanistan’s leaders led by former vice president Muhammad Younas Qanooni.
Expressing hope that all Afghan leaders will work together in the supreme national interest of their country, he asserted that Pakistan will continue to play a constructive and facilitative role in Afghanistan.
“The international community must remain engaged with Afghanistan,” Qureshi asserted, underlining that it is important that “we closely coordinate our next steps” for the benefit of Afghanistan and the region.
There is a clear international convergence in support of the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan and it is critical for all world leaders to unite for an inclusive and comprehensive political settlement in the country, Qureshi said.
He said the meeting with the political delegation of Afghanistan’s leaders led by Qanooni, all of whom have a vital stake in the country’s future, took place at an extremely critical time.
“Our ultimate objective is a peaceful, united, democratic, stable & prosperous Afghanistan,” he tweeted, sharing some photographs of the meeting.
The arrival of the Afghani delegation in Islamabad on Sunday coincided with President Ghani fleeing Afghanistan, extremely weakening the bargaining position of his supporters.
The Afghan delegation consists of leaders who were part of the different governments after the Taliban was toppled in 2001.
Subscribe to our channels on YouTube & Telegram
Why news media is in crisis & How you can fix it
India needs free, fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism even more as it faces multiple crises.
But the news media is in a crisis of its own. There have been brutal layoffs and pay-cuts. The best of journalism is shrinking, yielding to crude prime-time spectacle.
ThePrint has the finest young reporters, columnists and editors working for it. Sustaining journalism of this quality needs smart and thinking people like you to pay for it. Whether you live in India or overseas, you can do it here.