SPEAKING in the UN Security Council, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Munir Akram said Pakistan will recognize the Taliban regime in Kabul when there is a consensus, particularly of the regional countries on the issue.
This indeed is a pragmatic approach as taking a solo flight will not serve the interests of Pakistan nor will benefit Afghanistan in any manner.
Ever since Taliban has taken over the control of Kabul, Pakistan has persistently been pushing for a regional approach on the recognition of Taliban government and for this purpose, one also saw Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi visiting different regional countries to chart out a joint strategy.
Taliban on Friday say they will allow all girls in grades seven and up to return to school next week, a move praised by the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
This really indicates that the Taliban are heading in the right direction and trying to come up to the expectations of the international community which also must come out of skepticism, demonstrate flexibility and engage with the new Afghan set-up in order to better deal with humanitarian and economic crises there.
The very warnings by the UN that millions of Afghan people are on the verge of death due to hunger and disease must not go unnoticed.
Taliban has demonstrated so far that they have the capability to effectively run the affairs of the country despite difficult situation.
It is by sitting together with them, the matters can be taken towards improvement.
As a meeting of OIC Council of Foreign Ministers is due next week in Islamabad, it must not only express complete solidarity with the Afghan people but also come up with a clear message for recognizing the new set-up there.
Six of Afghanistan’s immediate neighbours including China, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are also meeting in Beijing next month and the recognition of Afghan set-up is being reported as one of the top issues on its agenda.
Taliban’s recognition by the regional countries including China and Russia definitely will encourage other countries as well to establish diplomatic relations with Afghanistan.
This is important not only to address the problems faced by the Afghan people but also better tackle the threat of terrorism.
