UN body allows Afghan FM to travel.
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan and China have intensified efforts for Afghanistan stability as the top diplomats of the three countries plan to meet next week in Islamabad to discuss the regional situation and cooperation, officials said yesterday.
Yesterday, a UN Security Council committee agreed to allow the Taliban administration’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to travel to Pakistan from Afghanistan next week to meet with the foreign ministers of Pakistan and China.
Muttaqi has long been subjected to a travel ban, asset freeze and arms embargo under Security Council sanctions.
According to a letter to the 15-member Security Council Taliban sanctions committee, Pakistan’s UN mission requested an exemption for Muttaqi to travel between May 6-9 “for a meeting with the foreign ministers of Pakistan and China.”
It did not say what the ministers would discuss but said Pakistan would cover all costs associated with Muttaqi’s trip.
Chinese and Pakistani officials have said in the past that they would welcome Taliban-led Afghanistan into the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) infrastructure project, part of the Belt and Road Initiative.
Senior Pakistani diplomats told The Nation that Pakistan and China had been discussing peace and stability in Afghanistan for long.
“A stable Afghanistan is in Pakistan and China’s interest. Engaging Afghanistan in CPEC will benefit all,” he said.
Another diplomat said Afghanistan will be urged to cooperate with the regional countries and move forward instead of isolating itself. “Hopefully, the FMs meeting will bring results,” he said.
Afghanistan sits as a key geographical trade and transit route between South and Central Asia and has billions of dollars of untapped mineral resources.
This week, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres began a two-day meeting in Doha with special envoys on Afghanistan from various countries that aims “to achieve a common understanding within the international community on how to engage with the Taliban,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
He said the closed-door meeting would discuss key issues key issues, such as human rights - in particular women’s and girls’ rights - inclusive governance, countering terrorism and drug trafficking.
China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Norway, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Britain, the United States, Uzbekistan, the European Union and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation are taking part in the meeting. The Taliban administration was not invited to the Doha meeting.