NEW YORK – Pakistan urged the international community on Monday not to takesteps that might lead to the economic collapse, as Islamabad called forunfreezing the Afghan assets that were blocked following the Taliban’stakeover.
Ahead of talks on the war-raked country at the UN General Assembly,Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi stressed averting an evendeeper economic collapse of Afghanistan that could trigger a humanitariancatastrophe.
Speaking with reporters in NYC, Qureshi said he doesn’t understand thereason behind raising new funds to avert a crisis amid holding on to themoney that belongs to Afghans and they cannot use it. “I think freezing theassets is not helping the situation, and I would strongly urge the powersthat be that they should revisit that policy and think of unfreezingassets,” he maintained while stating it as a ‘confidence-building measure’that will incentivize positive behavior of the new setup.
The US froze around $9.5 billion in Afghan central bank assets andinternational lenders have stayed clear of land lock country, wary ofproviding money that could be used by the Taliban.
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FM Qureshi said it was premature to establish formal ties and I don’t thinkanybody is in a rush to recognize at this stage while the Taliban shouldkeep an eye on that.
Taliban needs to be more sensitive and more receptive to internationalopinion if they want recognition, he opined while adding that he saw‘positives’ from the new Afghan setup including a declaration of amnestyand a willingness to include ethnic groups other than the group’s dominantPashtuns.
