In what seems a veiled criticism of the western countries’ outlook on Afghanistan, Pakistan National Security Adviser (NSA) Moeed Yusuf said on Tuesday that Pakistan, unlike the Western countries, did not have the luxury of disengaging with Afghanistan, which has been going through what could soon turn into a humanitarian catastrophe. 

Addressing a news conference in Islamabad after Pakistan and Uzbekistan signed a Protocol on the Establishment of Joint Security Commission, Yousuf said, “It may be a luxury for the Western world sitting 10,000 miles away (to not bother about Afghanistan), but we do not have any option to disengage from Afghanistan."

Pakistan, which shares around a 2700 km long border with Afghanistan, has been at forefront of advocating engagement with the Taliban, the new rulers of Afghanistan, which has so far shown little or no interest to accomodate the concerns of the international community. 

Defending his advocacy on the engagement with the Taliban authority, Yousuf said his country often faces flak for its stance on Afghanistan but the international community needs to engage with the Taliban for "the sake of the Afghan people". The world needed to coordinate and constructively engage with the present Afghan government to avert a humanitarian crisis for the sake of the country's people, he said, warning that a worse situation might develop if this was not done.

"This is not a matter of the Taliban or some other government but of ordinary Afghans,” he was quoted as saying by The News.

Ever since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan on 15 August, no country, including China and Russia, have recognized the Taliban government. The key concerns of the international community-- counter-terrorism guarantees, inclusivity of the interim government and gender rights--remain unfulfilled. 

China and Russia, the two key countries on which the Taliban earlier had great hopes, have also pressed the new rulers on inclusivity and moderating its gender policies. Russia, which considers neighboring Central Asian countries sensitive to its security, has recently become increasingly concerned over the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in Afghanistan. 
   
On Tuesday, Pakistan’s NSA Yousuf said, "We are the biggest victim of this [instability in Afghanistan] so when we talk about stability in Afghanistan then one [reason] is that it is the right of our Afghan brothers and sisters [...] but secondly it is also necessary for our national security that there is stability in Afghanistan and continuous peace is established.” 

The engagement with Afghanistan, he said, is not a “political matter” for Pakistan but a "humanitarian one and a matter of our national security".