Qureshi calls for collective strategy at int’l level to address humanitarian situation in Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD, Dec 16 (SABAH): Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi has called for a collective strategy at the international level to address the serious humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.

He was briefing anchorpersons and editors of newspapers in Islamabad on Thursday about the upcoming extraordinary session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers in Islamabad along with Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain and Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib.

The Foreign Minister warned that any economic collapse in Afghanistan or mass exodus will not confine to the region, but it will affect the entire world.

Underlining the need for engaging with Afghanistan, he said the world must not repeat the past mistake of abandoning Afghanistan.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Pakistan has been reaching out diplomatically, sensitizing the world about the impending humanitarian situation; and hosting the OIC Foreign Ministers conference is an important step to this objective.

The Foreign Minister said besides the OIC member states, P-5 countries, representatives from other countries and international financial institutions have been invited to the conference. He said among others, the United States and Russia have also confirmed their presence.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said such a big event of foreign affairs is taking place on Afghanistan after forty years, which is a major diplomatic success of Pakistan.

He said the conference will focus only on single point agenda of economic aid to the Afghan people. He said the world needs to join hands to deal with the serious humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.