War over in Afghanistan, but concerns persist: FM Jilani

Published October 11, 2023
KARACHI: Afghan refugees stand next to their belongings, waiting to board buses as they prepare to depart for their homeland amid a countrywide crackdown against illegal immigrants, on Tuesday.—Online
KARACHI: Afghan refugees stand next to their belongings, waiting to board buses as they prepare to depart for their homeland amid a countrywide crackdown against illegal immigrants, on Tuesday.—Online

ISLAMABAD: After decades of conflict and instability, Afghanistan stands at an important inflection point — there was no war and the security situation in the country has improved — but there hasn’t been commensurate progress on concerns regarding the rights of women and girls and countering the threat posed by terrorist organisations, caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani said on Tuesday.

In a statement at the 27th ECO Council of Ministers meeting held at Shusha, the cultural capital of Azerbaijan, the foreign minister said he believed that the pathway to progress in Afghanistan lay through constructive engagement with the interim Afghan government.

“As friends and neighbours of Afghanistan, we, as members of the ECO, have a critical role to play to this end,” he reiterated.

The foreign minister stressed that they must leverage connectivity as a way to achieve economic revival and growth in Afghanistan, which remained a key to sustainable peace, stability and prosperity.

The caretaker foreign minister also said Pakistan attached great importance to ECO, adding that the geo-political significance of their region was enormous.

FM Jilani reiterated that the key to unlock the geo-economic potential of the ECO region lay in connectivity, saying that this objective could be achieved by taking three vital steps: (i) development of road and rail projects, (ii) liberalization of visa regimes and (iii) simplification of border procedures.

He said some of the most significant contributions of ECO had been the operationalisation of ITI road corridor, along with implementation of Transit TTFA.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2023

Opinion

Editorial

Military option
Updated 21 Nov, 2024

Military option

While restoring peace is essential, addressing Balochistan’s socioeconomic deprivation is equally important.
HIV/AIDS disaster
21 Nov, 2024

HIV/AIDS disaster

A TORTUROUS sense of déjà vu is attached to the latest health fiasco at Multan’s Nishtar Hospital. The largest...
Dubious pardon
21 Nov, 2024

Dubious pardon

IT is disturbing how a crime as grave as custodial death has culminated in an out-of-court ‘settlement’. The...
Islamabad protest
Updated 20 Nov, 2024

Islamabad protest

As Nov 24 draws nearer, both the PTI and the Islamabad administration must remain wary and keep within the limits of reason and the law.
PIA uncertainty
20 Nov, 2024

PIA uncertainty

THE failed attempt to privatise the national flag carrier late last month has led to a fierce debate around the...
T20 disappointment
20 Nov, 2024

T20 disappointment

AFTER experiencing the historic high of the One-day International series triumph against Australia, Pakistan came...