New York, September 23 (BNA): The Pakistani government is proposing that the international community develop a roadmap that leads to diplomatic recognition of the Taliban – with incentives if they meet their requirements – and then sit face to face and talk about it. with militia leaders.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi clarified the idea on Wednesday in an interview with the Associated Press on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting of world leaders.
“If they fulfill these expectations, they will make it easier for themselves, and they will gain acceptance, which is required for recognition,” Qureshi told The Associated Press. Meanwhile, the international community must realize: what is the alternative? What are the options? This is the reality, and can they get away from this reality? “
He said that Pakistan is “in tune with the international community” in its desire to see a peaceful and stable Afghanistan with no space for terrorist elements to increase their foothold, and for the Taliban to “ensure that Afghan soil will not be used again against any country.”
“But we say, be more realistic in your style,” Qureshi said. “Try a creative way to interact with them. The way it was handled didn’t work.”
Qureshi said expectations from the Taliban leadership could include inclusive government and guarantees of human rights, especially for women and girls. He said the Afghan government, in turn, may be motivated by receiving development and economic and reconstruction aid to help recover from decades of war.
He urged the United States, the International Monetary Fund and other countries that have frozen Afghan government funds to immediately release the funds so they can be used “to promote normal life in Afghanistan.” But he pledged that Pakistan is ready to play a “constructive and positive” role in opening channels of communication with the Taliban because it also benefits from peace and stability.
This is the second time that the Taliban, which adheres to a hardline version of Islam, has ruled Afghanistan. The first time ended, from 1996 to 2001, when a US-led coalition ousted them after the 9/11 attacks, directed by Osama bin Laden from Afghanistan.
During that rule, Taliban and police leaders prevented girls from going to school and prevented women from working outside the home or leaving it unaccompanied by a male. After their overthrow, Afghan women still face challenges in a male-dominated society, but they have increasingly risen to powerful positions in government and many fields.
When the United States withdrew its army from Afghanistan last month, the government collapsed and a new generation of Taliban re-emerged, taking over almost immediately. In the weeks that followed, many countries expressed disappointment that the Taliban’s interim government was not as inclusive as its spokesman had promised.
While the new government allowed young girls to attend school, it has not yet allowed older girls to return to high school, and most women return to work despite a promise in April that women “can serve their community in the education, business, and health fields.” and social relations while maintaining the correct Islamic veil.”
Pakistan, which shares a long border with Afghanistan, has a long and sometimes conflicting relationship with its neighbor that includes attempts to prevent terrorism there, some say, as well as encouraging it. The Islamabad government has a primary interest in ensuring that whatever new Afghan offers, they do not pose a threat to Pakistan.
Qureshi says this requires a consistent, calibrated approach.
The Pakistani minister said: “It must be a realistic assessment, a pragmatic view from both sides, and this will ultimately set the tone for recognition.” The good news, he said, is that the Taliban are listening, “and they are not insensitive to what the neighbors and the international community are saying.”
How does he know they are listening? He says the interim government, most of which belongs to Afghanistan’s dominant ethnic Pashtun group, made some additions on Tuesday. She added representatives of the country’s ethnic minorities – Tajiks, Uzbeks and Hazaras, who are Shiite Muslims in the Sunni-majority country.
“Yes, there are no women yet,” Qureshi said. “But let’s let the situation develop.”
He stressed that the Taliban must make decisions in the coming days and weeks that enhance their acceptance.
“What the international community can do, in my opinion, is to sit down together and draw up a roadmap,” Qureshi said. And if they achieve these expectations, this is what the international community can do to help them stabilize their economy. This is the humanitarian assistance that can be provided. This is how they can help rebuild Afghanistan, rebuild, etc.”
“With this roadmap going forward, I believe that international engagement can be more productive,” he added.
On Wednesday evening, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said after a meeting of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council that the five countries – the United States, China, Britain, Russia and France – want “a peaceful and stable Afghanistan, where humanitarian aid can be distributed without problems or discrimination”.
He also described the hoped-for situation for an “Afghanistan where the rights of women and girls are respected, an Afghanistan that will not be a haven for terrorism, and an Afghanistan where we have an inclusive government that represents different sectors of the population.”
Qureshi said there are different forums where the international community can come up with the best way to deal with the situation. He emphasized that in the meantime, things appear to be stabilizing. He said that less than six weeks after the Taliban seized power on August 15, Pakistan had received information that the law and order situation had improved, fighting had stopped and many internally displaced Afghans were returning home.
“This is a positive sign,” Qureshi said.
He said Pakistan has not seen a new influx of Afghan refugees – a sensitive issue for Pakistanis, who have a great incentive to prevent it. A humanitarian crisis, a faltering economy, and workers returning to jobs and school but without salaries and without money could cause Afghans to flee across the porous border into Pakistan, which has suffered economically from such arrivals over decades of conflict.
Qureshi proceeded with patience and realism. After all, he says, every previous attempt to stabilize Afghanistan has failed, so don’t expect new efforts to achieve immediate success with the Taliban. If the United States and its allies “can’t persuade or eliminate them in two decades, how will it do so in the next two months or two years?” question.
RAE