Days after Saudi Arabia, the chair of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), took the initiative to call the extraordinary meeting of foreign ministers of the OIC on Afghanistan, Pakistan has offered to organize the meet in Islamabad. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Monday, “Pakistan fully endorses the initiative. We have also offered to host the meeting, in Islamabad, on December 17, 2021. We are confident that OIC member states will endorse the offer.” 

Praising the initiative taken by Saudi Arabia, Qureshi said, “Afghanistan is a founding member of the OIC. As part of the Ummah, we are bound by fraternal bonds of amity and brotherhood with the people of Afghanistan.” 

The meeting comes at a time when the humanitarian situation is worsening in Afghanistan. According to the World Food Program (WFP), around 23 million Afghans are on the brink of starvation and need urgent food assistance.

Soon after the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan in August, the US and other donors blocked their funds. For three months now, the Taliban has not paid civil servants, teachers and doctors. Recently, Germany and Netherland have offered some assistance in paying the salaries of workers from the health and education sectors. 

The group has been urging the US to unfreeze $9.5 assets of the Afghan central bank to help revive the country’s fragile economy. 

Qureshi on Monday said  OIC members needed to step up “our collective efforts to alleviate the humanitarian needs of the Afghan people, provide immediate and sustained support to them, and continue to remain engaged with them for the well-being and prosperity of Afghanistan.”

“I look forward to welcoming my fellow OIC Foreign Ministers to Islamabad,” Qureshi added. 

Saudi Arabia, which had earlier recognized the Taliban government in the late 90s, later broke off relations with the group due to the latter’s close association with al-Qaeda. Founded by Saudi national Osama Bin Laden, al-Qaeda still remains a threat to the Kingdom. 

Even after 2001, Riyadh refused to make contacts with the Taliban leadership due to their continued relations with al-Qaeda. 

A few months back, Prince Turki Bin Salman Faisel, former Saudi intelligence chief, had said that the government was unlikely to recognize the Taliban government unless they broke relations with the global terror group. 

(SAM)