Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Tuesday urged the global community to stay engaged with Afghanistan for peace and stability.The foreign minister's remarks came while he was addressing a joint news conference in Islamabad along with his German counterpart Heiko Maas after delegation-level talks.
"Humanitarian assistance must flow and economic collapse of Afghanistan must not be allowed," he said.FM Qureshi warned against repeating mistakes of the past and added that abandoning Afghanistan was not an option as it would have serious consequences.
"The world should remain vigilant of spoilers in Afghanistan," the minister warned. "The international community has to discern between those standing for peace and the spoilers."Qureshi added that Pakistan had been hosting over three million Afghan refugees for decades and have been providing them with education and health care facilities as well as livelihood opportunities.He emphasized the need for creating such an environment in Afghanistan so that the need for another exodus does not arise again.
Commenting on the collapse of former Afghan president Ashraf Ghani's government, the foreign minister said that they were not speaking the truth on the actual situation in Afghanistan. "Ashraf Ghani finally fled along with his aides and colleagues."He added that the recent statements made by the Taliban were encouraging and positive. They would have to act on the pronouncements and respect human rights and international norms, he said further.
The German foreign minister expressed his gratitude to Pakistan for playing a significant role in the evacuation of foreign nationals including Germans from Kabul."Germany stands ready to support the neighbouring countries of Afghanistan experiencing the impact of Afghan situation," Maas said. "Germany will not abandon them in facing the challenges. We have already provided 100 million euros in humanitarian assistance and 500 million euros have also been pledged for various projects in neighbouring countries of Afghanistan."
Maas added that Germany was closely coordinating with Pakistan on the Afghan issue as well as bilateral relations.With regards to bilateral relations, FM Qureshi expressed the desire to further deepen relations with Germany in different fields.
"Both the countries have planned a number of activities to celebrate seventy years of establishment of diplomatic relations this year," the FM said and pointed out that Germany has been an important investor in Pakistan and there are opportunities to further enhance trade and promote relations in the areas of renewable energy, information technology, housing, electric vehicles and others.
Qureshi added there were also opportunities for German investors in Special Economic Zones being established under CPEC (China–Pakistan Economic Corridor).FM Qureshi expressed his satisfaction over the defence cooperation between the two countries.
